Northcape Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Amgen by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,035,981 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $13,178,910,000 after acquiring an additional 165,636 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Amgen by 3.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,977,625 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,875,306,000 after purchasing an additional 255,463 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Amgen by 1.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,437,182 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,461,297,000 after purchasing an additional 61,528 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Amgen by 11.4% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,079,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,365,213,000 after purchasing an additional 518,689 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Amgen by 15.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,356,359 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $902,055,000 after purchasing an additional 459,340 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock traded down $2.44 on Tuesday, hitting $273.94. The stock had a trading volume of 2,476,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,816,730. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $211.71 and a 52-week high of $329.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. The stock has a market cap of $146.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $274.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $281.45.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.66 by $0.05. Amgen had a return on equity of 154.27% and a net margin of 23.83%. The business had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.09 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.43 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs cut Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $297.40.

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.