Schear Investment Advisers LLC Decreases Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Schear Investment Advisers LLC decreased its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,473 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 332 shares during the period. Schear Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at $56,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $296.66 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The company has a market cap of $159.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $272.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $302.50.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued 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 net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMGN. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.