Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Sells 1,310 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV decreased its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,286 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,310 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2,500.0% in the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 104 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 56.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 113 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 0.2 %

AMGN stock traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $305.84. 2,425,864 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,869,476. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.69, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $285.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $285.61. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $211.71 and a 12-month high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results 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 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%. Amgen’s revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.47 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AMGN. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. SVB Leerink lowered shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $324.00 to $318.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays upgraded shares of Amgen from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $230.00 to $300.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $284.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.65.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the sale, the senior vice president now 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.