United Asset Strategies Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

United Asset Strategies Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 17.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 31,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,879 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $10,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Amgen by 23.8% in the first quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 3,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after buying an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 8.2% in the first quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $459,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,726,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 51,429 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,622,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,252 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,905,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN traded up $3.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $318.57. The company had a trading volume of 660,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,411,166. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average is $324.75 and its 200-day moving average is $314.78. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $249.70 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $170.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.96 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 128.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $362.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial cut shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $320.00 to $333.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.55.

Amgen Company 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.