Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. reduced its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,134 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,895 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $7,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth $36,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $307.81 on Thursday. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $165.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.41, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $271.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $303.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMGN. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.