ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,690 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 74 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMGN. Talbot Financial LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,153,000 after buying an additional 2,274 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Amgen by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $513,033,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $204,659,000 after acquiring an additional 35,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Amgen by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Trading Up 1.0 %

Amgen stock opened at $272.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $273.95 and its 200-day moving average is $307.18. The company has a market cap of $146.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.84, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 121.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of several research reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.91.

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.