First Bank & Trust Lowers Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

First Bank & Trust decreased its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,659 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,030 shares during the quarter. First Bank & Trust's holdings in Amgen were worth $2,518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. PrairieView Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen by 118.3% during the 4th quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amgen Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of AMGN traded up $5.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $303.01. 3,260,757 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,124,757. The company has a market capitalization of $162.78 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The business has a 50 day moving average of $275.62 and a 200 day moving average of $300.75. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. This is a boost from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen's payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMGN. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Redburn Partners dropped their price objective on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $314.09.

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.