Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Sells 67 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. trimmed its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Amgen by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,035,981 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,178,910,000 after buying an additional 165,636 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Amgen by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,977,625 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,875,306,000 after buying an additional 255,463 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Amgen by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,437,182 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,461,297,000 after buying an additional 61,528 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 11.4% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,079,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,365,213,000 after acquiring an additional 518,689 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Amgen by 15.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,356,359 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $902,055,000 after acquiring an additional 459,340 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of Amgen stock traded up $0.94 on Wednesday, reaching $274.48. The stock had a trading volume of 912,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,820,358. The company has a market cap of $147.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $276.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $281.61. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $211.71 and a 1 year high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.05. Amgen had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 154.27%. The company had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.45 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on AMGN shares. SVB Leerink downgraded shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $324.00 to $318.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $296.95.

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.