Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Bought by Values First Advisors Inc.

Values First Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 90.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 593 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $295.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.60 billion, a PE ratio of 39.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $272.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $302.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 119.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two 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 price target of $314.09.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, 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.

Amgen 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.