Simon Quick Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC lessened its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,995 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 152 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AMGN. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.91.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock opened at $273.44 on Thursday. 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 50 day moving average price of $272.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $306.67. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.01, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.24%.

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.