Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Trims Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. reduced its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,929 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 182 shares during the quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. PrairieView Partners LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 118.3% in the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $291.16 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $273.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $302.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its 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 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596 over the last quarter. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.