Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Peloton Wealth Strategists

Peloton Wealth Strategists lessened its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,201 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 718 shares during the period. Amgen accounts for about 2.1% of Peloton Wealth Strategists’ holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Peloton Wealth Strategists’ holdings in Amgen were worth $4,707,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Profund Advisors LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 43,146 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,579,000 after buying an additional 2,980 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at about $1,521,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.3% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 5,696 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Nelson Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 1.2% in the second quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC now owns 18,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,101,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in Amgen by 250.3% in the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 5,391 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 3,852 shares in the last quarter. 74.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Amgen Inc acquired 1,764,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $29,999,985.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,368,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $601,267,101. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Amgen news, major shareholder Amgen Inc bought 1,764,705 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,985.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 35,368,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $601,267,101. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction 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. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company. SVB Leerink raised Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $318.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Amgen from $272.00 to $268.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $291.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $278.15.

Amgen Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Amgen stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $265.72. The stock had a trading volume of 301,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,466,537. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.58. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $211.71 and a 1 year high of $291.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $269.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $247.47.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released 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. The company had revenue of $6.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.92 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 28.20% and a return on equity of 165.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 18.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $2.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 16th. This represents a $8.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 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.