Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Aveo Capital Partners LLC

Aveo Capital Partners LLC reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,102 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 42 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AMGN. Lansing Street Advisors boosted its position in Amgen by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Unionview LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 3.8% during the third quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 0.4% during the third quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 7,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,407,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 0.6% during the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 5,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 4.6% during the third quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596 over the last quarter. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $291.16 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.51 billion, a PE ratio of 38.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $274.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $301.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

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.