Insider Selling: Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) EVP Sells $2,585,603.09 in Stock

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Amgen Stock Down 2.0 %

AMGN opened at $291.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The firm has a market cap of $156.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.56, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $301.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.21%.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE boosted its stake in Amgen by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. UBS Group cut their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

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.