Legacy Trust Has $724,000 Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Legacy Trust cut its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,779 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. Legacy Trust’s holdings in Amgen were worth $724,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Milestone Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 255.0% during the 4th quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 3,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,685 shares in the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted its position in Amgen by 258.5% in the fourth quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 2,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,993 shares during the period. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 11,107 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,895,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Amgen by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 26,963 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,027,000 after buying an additional 3,460 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 11,451 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,985,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AMGN opened at $281.68 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $271.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $305.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.41 billion, a PE ratio of 36.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. 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 (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its 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. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.96 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict 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 issued a $2.38 dividend. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AMGN. Redburn Partners decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company 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.