Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Acquired by Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BIP Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 1,249 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 999 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 4,626 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. Barclays upgraded Amgen from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, SVB Leerink cut Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.65.

Amgen Stock Up 1.8 %

AMGN stock traded up $5.55 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $312.86. The company had a trading volume of 2,920,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,909,855. The company has a 50 day moving average of $276.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $281.92. The company has a market capitalization of $167.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.69, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $211.71 and a 1 year high of $329.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 128.57%.

About Amgen

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.