Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Cuts Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 25.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,699 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 6,387 shares during the quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $4,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company's stock, 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were 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 directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, 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 three months, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

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Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $294.64. The stock had a trading volume of 1,076,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,772,110. The firm has a market cap of $158.41 billion, a PE ratio of 39.03, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $304.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.91. 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 fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. Amgen's payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Amgen from $315.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $314.91.

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.