Gallacher Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Gallacher Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,115 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Gallacher Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Semus Wealth Partners LLC grew its position 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 worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Blossom Wealth Management grew its position in Amgen by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 1,090 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,364 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in Amgen by 1.1% in the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,377 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,088,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in Amgen by 2.8% in the third quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $447,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $313.71 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $168.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $291.82 and a 200 day moving average of $299.12.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS 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, sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.04.

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.