Wealthquest Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Wealthquest Corp lowered its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,466 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 185 shares during the quarter. Wealthquest Corp’s holdings in Amgen were worth $903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter worth $56,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $272.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $146.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.84, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $273.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $307.18. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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 quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 121.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on AMGN. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.91.

Amgen 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.