Gradient Capital Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Gradient Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 320 shares during the period. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lansing Street Advisors increased 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 valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Unionview LLC grew 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 grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.4% during 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 buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased 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 valued at $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC raised its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was 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 approximately $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $296.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $302.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.29, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 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 issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 119.21%.

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.