LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Sells 19,490 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lessened its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 32.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 40,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 19,490 shares during the quarter. Amgen accounts for about 1.1% of LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Amgen were worth $10,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,712 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,053,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,227 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 11,422.2% in the fourth quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 2,074 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 6,875 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 82,348 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $21,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,042 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 0.4 %

AMGN stock traded down $1.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $263.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,079,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,768,796. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $280.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $309.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.69, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.96 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.