Palacios Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Palacios Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,191 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,405,000. Amgen comprises 1.5% of Palacios Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in Amgen by 16.9% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 120,389 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,825,000 after buying an additional 17,387 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in Amgen by 8.6% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 197,457 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $63,402,000 after buying an additional 15,564 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in Amgen by 1.1% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 538,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $173,639,000 after buying an additional 5,751 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its position in Amgen by 2.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 5,928 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,910,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in Amgen by 7.5% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 9,641 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,106,000 after buying an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Redburn Partners decreased their target price on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN opened at $296.97 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $159.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $273.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $302.18. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85.

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

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.21%.

Amgen 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.