11,805 Shares in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Bought by FORA Capital LLC

FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 11,805 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $3,077,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE grew its holdings in Amgen by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN traded down $6.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $265.86. 3,326,938 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,766,734. The company has a market capitalization of $142.94 billion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $296.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.50. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Amgen's payout ratio is currently 86.86%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,707 shares of company stock worth $12,819,342 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMGN. Erste Group Bank lowered Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (down from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $310.23.

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.