Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Equitable Trust Co.

Equitable Trust Co. lowered its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 76.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,797 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 15,984 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Amgen by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 6,867 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,438 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000. MBA Advisors LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 2,909 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Amgen by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,159 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,254,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OMC Financial Services LTD acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $730,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $294.79 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $272.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $302.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $158.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.05, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 119.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Redburn Partners reduced their target price on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was 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 directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 0.69% 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.