Poehling Capital Management INC. Purchases 576 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Poehling Capital Management INC. boosted its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 59.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,539 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the period. Poehling Capital Management INC.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 1,292.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,693,042,000 after acquiring an additional 6,029,058 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,541,991,000. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Amgen by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,182,843,000 after purchasing an additional 3,495,503 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Amgen by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,441,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $401,913,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $305.00 price objective on the stock. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $315.00 price target (down previously from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $309.22.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $271.34 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $288.67 and a 200-day moving average of $287.36. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The company has a market cap of $145.90 billion, a PE ratio of 35.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.96 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.86%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.