Financial Advocates Investment Management Has $2.64 Million Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Financial Advocates Investment Management cut its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 34.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,112 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,273 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cadinha & Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the third quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Lansing Street Advisors grew its position in shares of Amgen by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Unionview LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. AM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 7,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,407,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 5,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Redburn Partners reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.83.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $297.78 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $160.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.13, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $271.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $303.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. Research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

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.