Asset Planning Inc Acquires Shares of 731 Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 731 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $191,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Lansing Street Advisors raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.3% in the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Unionview LLC grew its position in Amgen by 3.8% during the third quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 7,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,407,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 5,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partners lowered their price target on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $296.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $273.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $302.18.

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

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.21%.

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.