Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Smead Capital Management Inc.

Smead Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,029,768 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 80,556 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises approximately 5.3% of Smead Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Smead Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.19% of Amgen worth $296,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Down 0.3 %

AMGN stock traded down $0.70 during trading on Thursday, hitting $263.37. 753,540 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,833,427. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $277.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $281.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.14, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.58. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $211.71 and a 52-week 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.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.05. Amgen had a return on equity of 154.27% and a net margin of 23.83%. The company had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Amgen from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $264.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $296.95.

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.