Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. Lowers Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,675 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises about 3.5% of Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Amgen by 1.7% during the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,658 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,133,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in shares of Amgen by 76.8% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 37,695 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,857,000 after purchasing an additional 16,376 shares in the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners boosted its position in Amgen by 7.4% in the third quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 5,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Amgen by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 4,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,363,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com raised Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Leerink Partnrs cut Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. William Blair raised shares of Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.05.

Amgen Trading Up 11.8 %

NASDAQ AMGN traded up $32.90 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $311.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,644,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,279,398. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $274.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $211.71 and a 52 week high of $329.72. The stock has a market cap of $166.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 145.62%. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 128.57%.

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.