CoreCap Advisors LLC Buys 3,659 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 41.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,392 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,659 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $3,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $820,000. Cutter Capital Management LP bought a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,928,000. Capital Advantage Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $806,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC grew its position in Amgen by 109.8% in the fourth quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC now owns 5,929 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,545,000 after acquiring an additional 3,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 594,379 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $154,919,000 after purchasing an additional 10,753 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $6.19 on Friday, hitting $265.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,326,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,766,734. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The stock's 50-day moving average is $296.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $289.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $142.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.96 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Bank of America upped their price target on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $310.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 42,707 shares of company stock worth $12,819,342. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amgen 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.