Absher Wealth Management LLC Sells 7,280 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Absher Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 9.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,654 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 7,280 shares during the quarter. Amgen makes up about 3.0% of Absher Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Absher Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $23,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter worth about $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.50.

Amgen Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of AMGN stock traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $319.72. 119,377 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,410,037. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $324.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $314.82. 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 52-week low of $260.52 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $171.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 181.58%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.48 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 115.24%.

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.