Gabelli Funds LLC Sells 530 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 54,220 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 530 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $12,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Roundview Capital LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 1.3% in the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 8,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,027,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 39.2% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,297 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter worth approximately $219,000. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter worth approximately $334,000. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,688 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,970,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. 74.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $2,728,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,078 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,659,959.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Amgen Inc bought 1,764,705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $29,999,985.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 35,368,653 shares in the company, valued at $601,267,101. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $2,728,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,659,959.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $265.35 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $269.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.71. The firm has a market cap of $142.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.71, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.56. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $211.71 and a one year high of $291.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The medical research company reported $4.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.65 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $6.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.92 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 165.37% and a net margin of 28.20%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.70 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 18.65 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 8th. Investors of record on Friday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $2.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 16th. This represents a $8.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AMGN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, November 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Argus boosted their price target on Amgen from $280.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on Amgen from $210.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, October 2nd. SVB Leerink raised Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $318.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $291.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $278.15.

About Amgen

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. It focuses on inflammation, oncology/hematology, bone health, cardiovascular disease, nephrology, and neuroscience areas. The company's products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Neulasta that reduces the chance of infection due a low white blood cell count in patients cancer; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; Xgeva for skeletal-related events prevention; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; and Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization.