Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Has $1.26 Million Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC decreased its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 18.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,820 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,122 shares during the quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter worth $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $296.97 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $159.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.33, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $273.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $302.18.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 20.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.21%.

Insider Activity 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 quarter, insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMGN. Bank of America increased their price target on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

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.