New England Research & Management Inc. Sells 5,105 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

New England Research & Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 48.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,469 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,105 shares during the quarter. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $755,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter valued at about $21,049,000. Lazari Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,367 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $740,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at about $846,000. Finally, Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. bought a new stake in Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at about $352,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Redburn Partners lowered their price objective on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.00.

Amgen Price Performance

Amgen stock opened at $281.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.07, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $271.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $305.15.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.96 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

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.