Baird Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Baird Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 335,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 10,812 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Amgen worth $87,515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Blossom Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 1,090 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Zullo Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,364 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 911 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,650 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.18.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of AMGN opened at $281.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $299.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $291.28.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 126.09%.

Amgen Company 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.