Studio Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,390 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Studio Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $305.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $310.18.

Amgen Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $272.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.48 billion, a PE ratio of 36.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $291.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $288.28.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.96 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.86%.

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.