Baxter Bros Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Baxter Bros Inc. cut its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,546 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 42 shares during the period. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PKS Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $410,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in Amgen by 52.5% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 24,929 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,497,000 after purchasing an additional 8,583 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 810 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 171.5% during the fourth quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after buying an additional 2,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $804,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Redburn Partners lowered their target price on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.04.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. This trade represents a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amgen Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $314.38 on Tuesday. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $168.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.64, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $298.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $298.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

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.