Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by GTS Securities LLC

GTS Securities LLC lessened its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 56.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,117 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 6,541 shares during the quarter. GTS Securities LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $1,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its holdings in Amgen by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded up $7.79 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $279.45. The stock had a trading volume of 2,917,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,796,422. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $150.26 billion, a PE ratio of 37.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $285.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $285.86.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The business had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.96 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is currently 86.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMGN. Erste Group Bank downgraded Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $309.22.

About Amgen

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.