Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Access Financial Services Inc.

Access Financial Services Inc. lowered its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,246 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 790 shares during the period. Access Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Roundview Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.3% in the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 8,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,027,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 39.2% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,297 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the first quarter worth about $219,000. First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in Amgen in the 1st quarter valued at about $334,000. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.1% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,688 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,970,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $284.32 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $290.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $280.70. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $211.71 and a 52-week high of $329.72. The firm has a market cap of $152.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.66 by $0.05. The company 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.09 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $286.00 to $326.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. SVB Leerink lowered shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Amgen from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $264.00 to $320.00 in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.