Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Lowers Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE lowered its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 888 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Amgen were worth $256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Roundview Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 8,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,027,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 39.2% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,297 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $219,000. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $334,000. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 2.1% during the 1st 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Amgen stock traded down $1.70 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $284.60. 975,010 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,018,392. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $290.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $280.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. The company has a market cap of $152.52 billion, a PE ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.58. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $211.71 and a twelve month high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm earned $4.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 72.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $286.00 to $326.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Amgen from $303.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Amgen from $315.00 to $314.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. SVB Leerink lowered Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, November 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.30.

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.