Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 353 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Foster & Motley Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,882 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 353 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $9,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cadinha & Co. LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Lansing Street Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.3% in the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Unionview LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 3.8% in the third quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Traveka Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 4.3% in the third quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 807 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, AM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 0.4% during the third quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 7,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,407,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $281.68 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $151.41 billion, a PE ratio of 36.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50 day moving average of $271.48 and a 200 day moving average of $305.15.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 115.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on AMGN shares. Redburn Partners cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently 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.