Eastern Bank Lowers Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Eastern Bank decreased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,287 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 67 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $270.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $145.24 billion, a PE ratio of 34.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $278.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $308.35.

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

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Amgen from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.91.

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.