Signet Financial Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Signet Financial Management LLC lowered its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,413 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Signet Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AMGN. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, SVB Leerink cut Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.30.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock traded down $0.25 on Tuesday, reaching $265.26. 1,078,045 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,857,906. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $279.63 and a 200-day moving average of $281.52. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $211.71 and a twelve month high of $329.72. The firm has a market cap of $142.16 billion, a PE ratio of 21.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.66 by $0.05. Amgen had a return on equity of 154.27% and a net margin of 23.83%. The company had revenue of $8.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.09 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.06%.

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.