Alethea Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Alethea Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,330 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $347,000. Amgen comprises approximately 0.3% of Alethea Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMGN. Talbot Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $11,153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,274 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,352,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Amgen by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $204,659,000 after purchasing an additional 35,785 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd increased its position in Amgen by 242.2% during the 4th quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 23,999 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,255,000 after purchasing an additional 16,985 shares during the period. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,105,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,222,743.34. This represents a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $315.00 target price (down from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $308.18.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $281.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $151.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $299.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $291.28. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.96 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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