Ballast Advisors LLC Sells 107 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Ballast Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,650 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 107 shares during the period. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Amgen in the first quarter valued at $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter valued at $30,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Amgen stock traded up $0.82 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $268.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 397,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,864,338. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $211.71 and a 12 month high of $329.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $280.76 and a 200 day moving average of $281.55. The company has a market capitalization of $143.68 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.66 by $0.05. Amgen had a return on equity of 154.27% and a net margin of 23.83%. The company had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $286.00 to $326.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Raymond James assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Leerink Partnrs cut Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $295.30.

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.