Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC Has $61.90 Million Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6,147.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 237,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 233,679 shares during the period. Amgen comprises about 5.2% of Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $61,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Amgen by 25.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $401,913,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 263.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $270,699,000 after buying an additional 753,147 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,338,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $609,526,000 after acquiring an additional 676,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 11.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,657,183,000 after acquiring an additional 538,545 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AMGN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amgen Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $312.64 on Friday. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $290.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $299.61. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $167.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.41, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

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.