Forsta AP Fonden Trims Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Forsta AP Fonden lowered its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 126,400 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,200 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Amgen were worth $32,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $280.30 on Wednesday. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $271.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $305.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.67 billion, a PE ratio of 35.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced 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 business 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 business’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMGN. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.00.

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.