SlateStone Wealth LLC Sells 172 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

SlateStone Wealth LLC cut its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,853 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 172 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $9,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMGN. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.04.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $313.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $168.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.55, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $291.82 and its 200 day moving average is $299.33. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

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.