Violich Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Violich Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 17.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,780 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Amgen in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 0.4 %

AMGN traded up $1.16 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $270.36. The stock had a trading volume of 1,792,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,935,626. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $284.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $281.54. 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 company has a market capitalization of $144.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.58. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $211.71 and a one year high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.13 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 154.27% and a net margin of 23.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.09 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 72.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AMGN. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Amgen from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $264.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Leerink Partnrs lowered Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $286.00 to $326.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Amgen from $315.00 to $314.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $295.30.

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.