Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. Invests $198,000 in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 687 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Amgen by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,658 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 76.8% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 37,695 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,857,000 after purchasing an additional 16,376 shares in the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group lifted its holdings in Amgen by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 1,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Amgen by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $745,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Platform Technology Partners increased its stake in Amgen by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 5,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amgen Stock Up 2.3 %

AMGN traded up $7.01 on Wednesday, reaching $307.31. 2,858,665 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,909,728. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $211.71 and a 52-week high of $329.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $164.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.90, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $275.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.74.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 156.21%. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 128.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMGN. StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, February 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $284.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $332.00 to $328.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.05.

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.