Castle Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Castle Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,681 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Castle Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, 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 directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $295.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $158.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.08, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50 day moving average is $272.96 and its 200 day moving average is $302.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, 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 for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

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.