Lifeworks Advisors LLC Buys 3,974 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Lifeworks Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 21.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 3,974 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises 1.1% of Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,918,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Amgen by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 538,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $173,639,000 after purchasing an additional 5,751 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 3.0% during the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,164 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,664,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 3.7% during the third quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,695 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Amgen by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $204,659,000 after acquiring an additional 35,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 245.2% in the 3rd quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 535 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $172,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at $18,222,743.34. The trade was a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.95.

Amgen Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $324.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $174.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $286.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.89.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

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.