Birch Capital Management LLC Has $5.67 Million Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Birch Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 366 shares during the period. Amgen makes up approximately 2.9% of Birch Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Birch Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,667,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter worth $25,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at $56,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Redburn Partners lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $318.83.

Amgen Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $3.58 on Tuesday, reaching $262.17. 1,373,423 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,824,106. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $140.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.57, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $283.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $310.11.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.90%.

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.