Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Down 2.7% on Insider Selling

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) shares were down 2.7% on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $301.09 and last traded at $302.91. Approximately 971,665 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 2,868,695 shares. The stock had previously closed at $311.29.

Specifically, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total value of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AMGN. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays upgraded Amgen from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $230.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Amgen from $332.00 to $328.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.05.

Amgen Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $275.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $281.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 156.21% and a net margin of 12.74%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.98 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Amgen by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,035,981 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,178,910,000 after acquiring an additional 165,636 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,977,625 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,875,306,000 after buying an additional 255,463 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Amgen by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,564,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,890,769,000 after acquiring an additional 243,720 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Amgen by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,831,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,679,625,000 after acquiring an additional 751,947 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,556,912,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.