Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by West Coast Financial LLC

West Coast Financial LLC lessened its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 59 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $698,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 30.4% during the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,442 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,137,000 after purchasing an additional 3,833 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.7% in the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 16,243 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,075,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance boosted its position in Amgen by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 11,780 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,681,000 after buying an additional 1,728 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 29.3% during the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,043,000 after acquiring an additional 2,207 shares during the period. Finally, Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd acquired a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $312,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $268.94 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $277.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $308.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The stock has a market cap of $144.56 billion, a PE ratio of 34.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.96 EPS. Analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.91.

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.