Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stake Trimmed by Sawgrass Asset Management LLC

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 56,891 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,413 shares during the period. Amgen makes up 1.8% of Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $16,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Amgen from $271.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Amgen from $284.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total value of $662,811.53. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $7.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $307.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,858,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,909,728. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $211.71 and a 52 week high of $329.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $164.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $275.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $281.74.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 156.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 2.93%. 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.