Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC Reduces Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC trimmed its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,997 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 136 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BIP Wealth LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 1,249 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 999 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its position in Amgen by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 4,626 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,332,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMGN. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Amgen from $271.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. William Blair raised shares of Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Amgen from $332.00 to $328.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.05.

Amgen Stock Up 11.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $32.90 on Friday, reaching $311.29. The company had a trading volume of 9,644,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,279,398. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.97 billion, a PE ratio of 44.47, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $211.71 and a 52-week high of $329.72. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $274.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.46.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 145.62% and a net margin of 12.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.