Insider Selling: Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) EVP Sells 25,045 Shares of Stock

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $295.06 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $272.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $302.23. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $158.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.08, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, research 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 119.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partners reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,384,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Yoffe Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $548,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,477,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen by 455.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,760,000 after acquiring an additional 5,537 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

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.