Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 3,064 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 20.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,975 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 3,064 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AMGN. Grassi Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Grassi Investment Management now owns 4,600 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,199,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $270,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 46.5% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,809 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,786,000 after buying an additional 2,162 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 25,009 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $6,518,000 after buying an additional 697 shares during the period. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,100 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,893,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ AMGN traded down $0.24 on Friday, reaching $271.66. The company had a trading volume of 2,531,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,794,457. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company's fifty day moving average is $286.82 and its 200-day moving average is $286.72.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is 86.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 target price for the company. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $315.00 target price (down previously from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average 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.