Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by MKT Advisors LLC

MKT Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,786 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 68 shares during the quarter. Amgen makes up approximately 0.7% of MKT Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. MKT Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Redburn Partners lowered their price target on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.65.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $275.42 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $271.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $305.99. The stock has a market cap of $148.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.56. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.96 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 115.24%.

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.