Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Sells 347 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. reduced its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 347 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,957,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Southland Equity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC grew its position in Amgen by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 999 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $743,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evanson Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $267.28 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $280.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.55. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $211.71 and a 52-week high of $329.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.65. The company has a market cap of $143.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Amgen from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $264.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. SVB Leerink cut Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $315.00 to $314.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.30.

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.