American National Bank & Trust Reduces Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

American National Bank & Trust trimmed its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,332 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 565 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises approximately 1.2% of American National Bank & Trust’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. American National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Amgen were worth $11,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Amgen by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,721,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,741,409,000 after acquiring an additional 339,522 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,441,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672,975 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,475,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,245,881,000 after purchasing an additional 352,143 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,182,843,000 after purchasing an additional 3,495,503 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1,292.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,693,042,000 after buying an additional 6,029,058 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $288.00 target price for the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $315.00 target price (down from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $305.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $309.22.

Amgen Stock Up 1.2%

AMGN opened at $287.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $154.33 billion, a PE ratio of 38.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $283.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $285.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.96 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 86.86%.

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.