JT Stratford LLC Has $289,000 Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

JT Stratford LLC cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 52.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,110 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,223 shares during the period. JT Stratford LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,352,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lifted its holdings in Amgen by 242.2% during the 4th quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 23,999 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,255,000 after buying an additional 16,985 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 285.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 394,489 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $102,820,000 after acquiring an additional 292,137 shares in the last quarter. Aire Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 13,280 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,461,000 after acquiring an additional 2,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,531,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $7.75 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $279.41. 2,072,259 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,796,417. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month 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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $285.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $285.86. The firm has a market cap of $150.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.96 earnings per share. Amgen's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AMGN shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $309.22.

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.