Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Quent Capital LLC

Quent Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 229 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth approximately $270,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 27,468 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,159,000 after purchasing an additional 5,226 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 347.2% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,740 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 3,680 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 6,187 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,613,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,565 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 18th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $309.22.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $283.54 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $283.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $285.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.46 billion, a PE ratio of 37.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.