J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. PrairieView Partners LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 118.3% in the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Amgen Stock Down 2.0 %

Amgen stock opened at $291.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $156.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.56, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $274.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $301.85. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.21%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.