Valley National Advisers Inc. Sells 1,374 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Valley National Advisers Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,160 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,374 shares during the quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at $56,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. Truist Financial cut their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.00.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $285.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $153.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.55, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50 day moving average is $271.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $304.33.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.96 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 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.