Guggenheim Capital LLC Sells 8,356 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Guggenheim Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 238,338 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 8,356 shares during the quarter. Amgen makes up approximately 0.5% of Guggenheim Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $62,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE raised its position 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 worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the firm'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 trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AMGN. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Amgen from $328.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on Amgen from $315.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $314.91.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of Amgen stock traded down $5.35 on Friday, reaching $277.29. The stock had a trading volume of 4,371,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,793,267. The business's 50 day moving average is $303.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.51. 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 company has a market cap of $149.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.