Alley Investment Management Company LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Alley Investment Management Company LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,138 shares during the quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Lansing Street Advisors increased its position in shares of Amgen by 1.3% during the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Unionview LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 3.8% in the third quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 0.6% in the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 5,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 4.6% in the third quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 2.3% in the third quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $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 valued at $20,644,335 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $310.78 on Tuesday. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $166.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $281.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $299.73. 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 (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AMGN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America increased their target price on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Redburn Partners dropped their target price on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.