Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Burkett Financial Services LLC

Burkett Financial Services LLC lowered its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,993 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 162 shares during the quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,421,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the third quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Lansing Street Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.3% in the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Unionview LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D Orazio & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 3,101 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $969,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $1.14 on Monday, reaching $260.08. The stock had a trading volume of 1,040,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,099,554. The company has a market capitalization of $139.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $284.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $310.47.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 121.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on AMGN. Robert W. Baird restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Redburn Partners dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.83.

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.