Stonegate Investment Group LLC Sells 244,847 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC lessened its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 94.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,800 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 244,847 shares during the quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $486,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 26.9% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 63,809 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,937,000 after acquiring an additional 13,542 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 51,851 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $16,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920 shares during the period. Invst LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $1,005,000. Finally, Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $282.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $152.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $271.39 and its 200 day moving average is $305.81.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.96 EPS. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMGN. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.00.

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.