Sabal Trust CO Sells 830 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Sabal Trust CO lessened its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,200 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 830 shares during the quarter. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in Amgen were worth $21,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 118.3% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 over the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amgen Stock Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $315.63 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $169.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.81, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $278.13 and a 200-day moving average of $300.16. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 3.02%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Redburn Partners cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.