Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,465 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 149 shares during the quarter. Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blossom Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.5% during the 4th 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. boosted its position in Amgen by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,364 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 911 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in Amgen by 1.1% in the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,377 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $315.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.73, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $296.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $299.14.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released 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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Redburn Partners dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.