Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Alpha Cubed Investments LLC

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 86.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,528 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 126,041 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 9,371 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,442,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 37,404 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,749,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Solidarity Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $1,098,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Amgen by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 76,607 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,967,000 after buying an additional 1,966 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Fund Management LLC raised its position in Amgen by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 20,077 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,346,000 after buying an additional 4,942 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $272.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $146.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $272.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $306.92.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMGN. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.91.

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.