Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. Sells 375,906 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 23.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,212,534 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 375,906 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises 3.7% of Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. owned about 0.23% of Amgen worth $306,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Lansing Street Advisors increased its position in Amgen by 1.3% during the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Unionview LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen by 3.8% in the third quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Traveka Wealth LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 4.3% in the third quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 807 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 7,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,407,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $280.30 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $271.48 and its 200 day moving average is $305.15. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $150.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.00.

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.