Donoghue Forlines LLC Sells 5,341 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Donoghue Forlines LLC lowered its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 48.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,648 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,341 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

Amgen stock opened at $274.05 on Thursday. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. 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 $147.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $271.91 and a 200-day moving average of $306.43.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Redburn Partners cut their price objective on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.91.

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.