ABC Arbitrage SA Makes New $1.51 Million Investment in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 5,793 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,510,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % 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 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $291.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $156.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.56, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $273.75 and its 200 day moving average is $302.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS 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%. Research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

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.