FORA Capital LLC Takes $3.08 Million Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 11,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,077,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. The trade was a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,707 shares of company stock worth $12,819,342. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $315.00 target price (down previously from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $305.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $310.23.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $272.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $146.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.03, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $290.23. 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 (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. The business’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. Research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 86.86%.

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.