3,094 Shares in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Bought by Capital Advantage Inc.

Capital Advantage Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 3,094 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Talbot Financial LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Amgen by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $204,659,000 after buying an additional 35,785 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lifted its holdings in Amgen by 242.2% in the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 23,999 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,255,000 after buying an additional 16,985 shares during the period. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $1,105,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Down 0.4 %

AMGN opened at $280.06 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $299.13 and a 200 day moving average of $290.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $150.57 billion, a PE ratio of 37.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.96 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $305.00 price objective for the company. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $308.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

About Amgen

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.