Mather Group LLC. Lowers Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Mather Group LLC. cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,254 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 710 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Talbot Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Amgen by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $513,033,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 9.0% in the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 6.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $204,659,000 after acquiring an additional 35,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.2% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $289.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $155.36 billion, a PE ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $270.95 and a 200 day moving average of $303.82.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. As a group, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 115.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Two investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.00.

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.