Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Weatherly Asset Management L. P.

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. lowered its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,855 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 67 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMGN. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth about $26,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $274.48. 912,470 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,820,358. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $211.71 and a twelve month high of $329.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $147.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $276.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $281.61.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.66 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.13 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 154.27%. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on AMGN shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on Amgen from $314.00 to $284.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $329.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $296.95.

Amgen 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.