Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,139 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 813 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its holdings in Amgen by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 129,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $40,566,000 after purchasing an additional 8,700 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,758,000 after buying an additional 2,353 shares during the period. Cornerstone Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Amgen by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. now owns 106,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,328,000 after acquiring an additional 3,260 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,354,000. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 82,368 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,736,000 after acquiring an additional 2,182 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Truist Financial cut shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $333.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $362.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Dbs Bank upgraded Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.50.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $325.28 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $323.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $317.08. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $260.52 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.85 billion, a PE ratio of 41.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.96 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.24%.

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.