Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Grows Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,953 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. This represents a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 0.3 %

Amgen stock opened at $316.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $169.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $297.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $299.02.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.