Telos Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Telos Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,500 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 225 shares during the period. Telos Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $7,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.7% in the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,658 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in Amgen by 76.8% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 37,695 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,857,000 after buying an additional 16,376 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.4% in the third quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $745,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners increased its position in shares of Amgen by 7.4% during the third quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 5,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,567,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the period. Finally, Traynor Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,941 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,455,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $286.00 to $326.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Amgen from $315.00 to $314.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Raymond James began coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.30.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $265.91. 1,235,404 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,849,470. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $211.71 and a 1-year high of $329.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $278.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.49.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.13 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 154.27% and a net margin of 23.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.09 EPS. Research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.06%.

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.