Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 324 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,577 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 324 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $269.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $144.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.50, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $276.06 and its 200 day moving average is $307.76. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

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

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.91.

Amgen 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.