Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by WFA of San Diego LLC

WFA of San Diego LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 22.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,290 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 652 shares during the quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $508,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Amgen in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. PrairieView Partners LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 250.0% in the 2nd quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 140 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 51.1% in the 1st quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. 74.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. SVB Leerink raised Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $318.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 12th. Barclays increased their price target on Amgen from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. Argus increased their price target on Amgen from $280.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $290.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $278.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $2,728,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,078 shares in the company, valued at $7,659,959.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Amgen news, major shareholder Amgen Inc purchased 1,764,705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $29,999,985.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,368,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $601,267,101. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $2,728,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,078 shares in the company, valued at $7,659,959.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $0.70 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $266.09. 223,929 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,466,519. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.71, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.86. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $211.71 and a 52-week high of $291.60. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $269.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $247.47. The company has a market capitalization of $142.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.58.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 31st. The medical research company reported $4.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.65 by $0.31. Amgen had a return on equity of 165.37% and a net margin of 28.20%. The business had revenue of $6.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.70 earnings per share. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 18.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 8th. Investors of record on Friday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $2.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 16th. This represents a $8.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 60.55%.

Amgen Company Profile

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. It focuses on inflammation, oncology/hematology, bone health, cardiovascular disease, nephrology, and neuroscience areas. The company's products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Neulasta that reduces the chance of infection due a low white blood cell count in patients cancer; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; Xgeva for skeletal-related events prevention; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; and Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization.