Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stake Lessened by Toronto Dominion Bank

Toronto Dominion Bank lowered its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 38.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 81,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 50,199 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Amgen were worth $21,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $288.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $309.22.

Amgen Stock Up 2.9%

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $279.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $285.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $285.81. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $150.26 billion, a PE ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.96 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 86.86%.

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.