Trust Co. of Vermont Reduces Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Trust Co. of Vermont lowered its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 399 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Amgen were worth $7,478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Keynote Financial Services LLC lifted its position 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 worth $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,421,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. RFP Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Hofer & Associates. Inc lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc now owns 6,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $362.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $320.00 to $333.00 in a research note on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, September 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $405.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $329.48.

Amgen Stock Down 0.1 %

AMGN stock opened at $321.33 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $326.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $311.63. The company has a market capitalization of $172.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $249.70 and a 12 month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.57%.

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.