David M. Reese Sells 8,711 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,222,743.34. This trade represents a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Amgen Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $303.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The stock has a market cap of $162.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.13, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $276.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $300.40. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. 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 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $166,000. Aurdan Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $6,588,000. Perennial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $4,989,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 4,201 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Redburn Partners cut their price objective on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

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.