Fortress Financial Solutions LLC Invests $281,000 in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Fortress Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,078 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $296.66 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.29, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $272.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $302.50. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 119.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMGN. Bank of America upped their price target on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.