First United Bank & Trust Decreases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

First United Bank & Trust cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,858 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. First United Bank & Trust’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Redburn Partners lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. 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. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.91.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $272.11 on Tuesday. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $273.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $307.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.27 billion, a PE ratio of 34.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during 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%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

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

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.