Sunbelt Securities Inc. Cuts Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. cut its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 17.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,442 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 960 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Keynote Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 4,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,421,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. RFP Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 17.1% in the 1st quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 219 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc now owns 6,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Blossom Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 1,023 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Down 0.1 %

AMGN stock opened at $322.21 on Tuesday. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $249.70 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The company has a market cap of $172.84 billion, a PE ratio of 46.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $328.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $308.12.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.01 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.00 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 128.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMGN. Dbs Bank upgraded Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 target price (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.55.

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.