Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) EVP Sells $2,554,239.42 in Stock

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at $18,222,743.34. This represents a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Amgen Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of AMGN opened at $303.01 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.13, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $276.27 and a 200-day moving average of $300.40.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lansing Street Advisors raised its position in Amgen by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Unionview LLC raised its position in Amgen by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in Amgen by 0.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on AMGN. Bank of America upped their price objective on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

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.