Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Buys 252 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,546 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 252 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at $26,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at $30,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMGN. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. SVB Leerink downgraded Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $271.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $332.00 to $328.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.05.

Amgen Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of AMGN stock traded down $11.81 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $299.48. The stock had a trading volume of 4,717,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,915,562. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $211.71 and a 12-month high of $329.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $275.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $281.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. Amgen had a return on equity of 156.21% and a net margin of 12.74%. The business had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 128.57%.

Amgen Company Profile

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.