NewEdge Advisors LLC Raises Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,099 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,786 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $18,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its position in Amgen by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $315.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $328.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amgen Trading Down 4.3 %

Amgen stock opened at $282.64 on Thursday. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $303.78 and its 200-day moving average is $294.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $151.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.44, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. On average, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Amgen Company Profile

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. The company's principal products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; XGEVA for skeletal-related events prevention; Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization; Nplate for the treatment of patients with immune thrombocytopenia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; EVENITY for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal for men and women; Vectibix to treat patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer; BLINCYTO for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; TEPEZZA to treat thyroid eye disease; and KRYSTEXXA for the treatment of chronic refractory gout.