Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Citizens Business Bank

Citizens Business Bank cut its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. Citizens Business Bank’s holdings in Amgen were worth $573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated 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 $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 67,752 shares of company stock valued at $20,160,532 over the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $275.84 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $297.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $290.54. 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 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.31 billion, a PE ratio of 36.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.96 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 86.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMGN. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $305.00 target price on the stock. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.