Slow Capital Inc. Trims Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Slow Capital Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,476 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 365 shares during the period. Slow Capital Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 4,998 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,546 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,895,000 after purchasing an additional 5,960 shares during the last quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,154,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Amgen by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 32,413 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,448,000 after buying an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AMGN shares. Redburn Partners dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.65.

Amgen Trading Up 2.7 %

Amgen stock opened at $282.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $271.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $305.81. The company has a market capitalization of $152.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week 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 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 business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. 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 115.24%.

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.