Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Trims Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 10.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,638 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 648 shares during the quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at $26,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. United Community Bank acquired a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 2,500.0% during the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 104 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. William Blair raised Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays raised Amgen from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. SVB Leerink cut Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Amgen from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN traded down $2.91 on Thursday, hitting $306.50. 2,139,341 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,835,861. The company has a 50 day moving average of $284.28 and a 200-day moving average of $285.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.42 billion, a PE ratio of 43.79, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $211.71 and a 12-month high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 156.21% and a net margin of 12.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 128.57%.

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.