Eliot Finkel Investment Counsel LLC Cuts Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Eliot Finkel Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,827 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Amgen makes up about 4.3% of Eliot Finkel Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Eliot Finkel Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lansing Street Advisors raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.3% during the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Unionview LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.8% during the third quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.4% during the third quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 7,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,407,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.6% during the third quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Amgen Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $308.06 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.49 billion, a PE ratio of 40.80, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $280.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $299.99.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. As a group, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 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 represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 approximately $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 a total of 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 in the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.