Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 20,159 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Amgen Trading Down 1.4 %

Amgen stock opened at $293.54 on Monday. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $272.26 and its 200-day moving average is $303.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $157.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.88, 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, 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. 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 3.24%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AMGN. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.23.

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.