Bleakley Financial Group LLC Trims Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC cut its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,085 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 33,125.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,437,115,000 after buying an additional 4,446,757 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 6,812.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,523,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,130,610,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486,882 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 561.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,539,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $496,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,982 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Amgen by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,338,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $609,526,000 after purchasing an additional 676,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,657,183,000 after purchasing an additional 538,545 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Up 6.5 %

AMGN opened at $307.81 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $271.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $303.52. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $165.46 billion, a PE ratio of 39.41, a P/E/G 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.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup cut their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.00.

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.