Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC Makes New $417,000 Investment in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,601 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $324.86 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $286.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $299.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $174.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.03, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Redburn Partners lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.95.

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.