WealthPLAN Partners LLC Decreases Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

WealthPLAN Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,164 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 767 shares during the period. WealthPLAN Partners LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 33,125.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,437,115,000 after acquiring an additional 4,446,757 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 6,812.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,523,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,130,610,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486,882 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 561.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,539,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $496,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,982 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 263.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $270,699,000 after purchasing an additional 753,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Amgen by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,338,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $609,526,000 after purchasing an additional 676,598 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In related news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on AMGN shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Redburn Partners reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

Amgen Trading Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $291.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $156.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.56, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $273.75 and a 200-day moving average of $302.14.

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

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

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.