Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Reduces Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,953 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,020 shares during the quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in 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. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’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 approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $295.06 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $272.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $302.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $158.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 119.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Redburn Partners lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

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.