Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. Sells 159 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,004 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 159 shares during the quarter. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,086,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $572,000. CapWealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,837 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,777,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. BXM Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $314,000. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its holdings in Amgen by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 18,521 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,828,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,510,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were 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 directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock opened at $291.16 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $273.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $302.14. The stock has a market cap of $156.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 119.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Redburn Partners cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

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.