Bfsg LLC Purchases 399 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Bfsg LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,647 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth $57,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock opened at $291.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $274.12 and a 200-day moving average of $301.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. 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. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.21%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction 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. This trade 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. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Amgen

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.