Aviso Financial Inc. Acquires 39 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Aviso Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,892 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Aviso Financial Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $313.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $168.53 billion, a PE ratio of 41.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $291.82 and a 200-day moving average of $299.52.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

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.