Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Sheets Smith Wealth Management

Sheets Smith Wealth Management reduced its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 520 shares during the quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen by 11.7% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 2,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,614 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $211,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthShield Partners LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth about $793,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the firm’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays raised Amgen from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Raymond James initiated coverage on Amgen in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $284.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.05.

Amgen Trading Up 11.8 %

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

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 145.62%. The company’s revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.57%.

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.