Mcrae Capital Management Inc. Sells 500 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Mcrae Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 25.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,495 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Mcrae Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in Amgen by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 13,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,642,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. PrairieView Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 118.3% in the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Park Capital Management LLC WI bought a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $269,000. Ingalls & Snyder LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 15,660 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,082,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castle Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,681 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $296.97 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $273.29 and a 200-day moving average of $302.18. 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 twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The firm has a market cap of $159.63 billion, a PE ratio of 39.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is an increase 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 3.21%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This 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 Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMGN. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Redburn Partners reduced their price objective on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

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.