Rialto Wealth Management LLC Takes $769,000 Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,952 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $769,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $324.86 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 company has a market capitalization of $174.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $286.14 and a 200-day moving average of $299.89.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders 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 2.93%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.