AXQ Capital LP Acquires Shares of 1,355 Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,355 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,751 shares during the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 3,955.0% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 174,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 169,748 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Amgen by 130.4% during the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 17,908 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,770,000 after acquiring an additional 10,136 shares during the last quarter. Truepoint Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth $207,000. Finally, WESPAC Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 30.8% during the third quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,347,000 after acquiring an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.04.

Amgen Stock Up 0.3 %

AMGN stock opened at $316.04 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50-day moving average of $297.24 and a 200-day moving average of $298.57. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week 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 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

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.