CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 5,384 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,831 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 5,384 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Amgen were worth $10,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 16.8% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,615 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 120,389 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $38,825,000 after purchasing an additional 17,387 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 109,459 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $35,269,000 after purchasing an additional 7,237 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.4% in the third quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 1,282 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Client Services LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the third quarter worth $225,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on AMGN. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays increased their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $314.00.

Amgen Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $1.40 on Friday, reaching $285.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,799,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,746,697. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. The business's 50-day moving average price is $271.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $304.33. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The firm has a market cap of $153.42 billion, a PE ratio of 36.55, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The firm's revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a boost from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is currently 121.90%.

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.