Kimelman & Baird LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Kimelman & Baird LLC trimmed its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,800 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of AMGN opened at $313.71 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $168.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $291.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $299.12. 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 (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at $18,222,743.34. This represents a 12.29 % 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, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the business’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 owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.04.

Amgen Company Profile

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.