Access Financial Services Inc. Sells 790 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Access Financial Services Inc. lessened its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,246 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 790 shares during the period. Access Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 83,875.6% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,541,011 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,980,571,000 after acquiring an additional 7,532,031 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,351,778,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 158.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,950,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $774,791,000 after buying an additional 1,806,456 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Amgen by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,301,365 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,493,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Amgen by 164.9% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,337,970 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $323,548,000 after purchasing an additional 832,885 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $284.32 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $290.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $280.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $152.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.58. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $211.71 and a 1-year high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its 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 net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 154.27%. The company had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.09 EPS. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 72.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $286.00 to $326.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Raymond James began coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $295.30.

Amgen 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.