GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. Increases Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. increased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1,089.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 108,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 99,688 shares during the quarter. Amgen accounts for 2.1% of GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $31,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 11.7% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 2,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,614 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth about $211,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 33.8% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Finally, WealthShield Partners LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $793,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 11.8 %

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $311.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $211.71 and a twelve month high of $329.72. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $274.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.50. The stock has a market cap of $166.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.47, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $7.45 billion for 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 was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMGN. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays upgraded shares of Amgen from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $230.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Friday. Raymond James initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Amgen from $271.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Ten equities research 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, the company currently has a consensus 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.