Sheets Smith Wealth Management Sells 520 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management trimmed its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 520 shares during the quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,684,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock traded up $32.90 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $311.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,644,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,279,398. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $211.71 and a 12 month high of $329.72. The company has a 50 day moving average of $274.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $281.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 145.62%. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.98 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. William Blair upgraded Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Amgen from $284.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, SVB Leerink lowered Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.05.

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.