Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. Takes Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 393 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter valued at $57,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Redburn Partners cut their target price on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $294.79 on Tuesday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $272.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $302.77. The company has a market capitalization of $158.46 billion, a PE ratio of 39.05, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 119.21%.

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.