Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 25.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,516 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 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 three months. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $318.65 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $294.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.91. 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 one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The firm has a market cap of $171.18 billion, a PE ratio of 42.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

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 paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.04.

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.