Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Grows Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA boosted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,361 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Amgen were worth $355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $308.06 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $280.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $300.16. The firm has a market cap of $165.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85.

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

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, 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 transaction of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % 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 valued at $20,644,335 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Redburn Partners reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

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.