Keynote Financial Services LLC Raises Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Keynote Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,766 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the quarter. Amgen makes up 1.0% of Keynote Financial Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Keynote Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 0.7 %

AMGN stock opened at $308.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $165.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $280.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $299.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently 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.