Golden State Equity Partners Invests $1.12 Million in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Golden State Equity Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 4,619 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,117,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Tanglewood Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Amgen in the first quarter valued at $28,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 120 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, AXS Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 74.44% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $257.23 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $245.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.35, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.76. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $211.71 and a 52-week high of $296.67.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The medical research company reported $5.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $7 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.66 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 196.60% and a net margin of 30.02%. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 18.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $2.13 per share. This represents a $8.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 17th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus cut their price target on Amgen from $270.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, June 26th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $225.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 11th. Credit Suisse Group lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $220.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $264.19.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 9,558 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.43, for a total value of $2,508,305.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,308 shares in the company, valued at $11,627,748.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Amgen

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. It focuses on inflammation, oncology/hematology, bone health, cardiovascular disease, nephrology, and neuroscience areas. The company's products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Neulasta that reduces the chance of infection due a low white blood cell count in patients cancer; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; Xgeva for skeletal-related events prevention; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; and Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization.