Ritholtz Wealth Management Sells 1,826 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lowered its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,143 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,826 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Southland Equity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 999 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $743,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $480,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 831 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Raymond James started coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Amgen from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $264.00 to $320.00 in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, SVB Leerink cut Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.30.

Amgen Stock Down 0.7 %

AMGN opened at $284.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $290.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $280.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.58. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $211.71 and a 12 month high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.66 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.13 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 154.27% and a net margin of 23.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 72.06%.

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.