Bank of New Hampshire Decreases Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Bank of New Hampshire reduced its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,513 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings in Amgen were worth $394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter worth $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $3.34 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $261.93. 157,213 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,542,034. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $140.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $283.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $310.11. 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 (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.96 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Amgen from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.83.

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.