Ritholtz Wealth Management Sells 1,826 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lessened its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,143 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,826 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMGN. Evanson Asset Management LLC raised its position in Amgen by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA grew its stake in Amgen by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 22,549 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,495,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC now owns 1,601 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $461,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 953 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bouchey Financial Group Ltd grew its stake in Amgen by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd now owns 1,685 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $303.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $315.00 to $314.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Amgen from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $264.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.30.

Amgen Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $284.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $211.71 and a 12 month high of $329.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.37 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $290.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.70.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.66 by $0.05. Amgen had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 154.27%. The business had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.09 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.