LRI Investments LLC Has $373,000 Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

LRI Investments LLC reduced its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 39.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,431 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 919 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Talbot Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,352,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 242.2% during the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 23,999 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,255,000 after purchasing an additional 16,985 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $1,105,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 285.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 394,489 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $102,820,000 after purchasing an additional 292,137 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,707 shares of company stock worth $12,819,342 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN opened at $265.86 on Monday. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.94 billion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $296.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.50.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Amgen’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 86.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $305.00 target price on the stock. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Erste Group Bank lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $310.23.

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.