Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE Lowers Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE lowered its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,925 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 145 shares during the period. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE’s holdings in Amgen were worth $762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Brown Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $755,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $21,049,000. Lazari Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,367 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $846,000. Finally, Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $352,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $281.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.41 billion, a PE ratio of 36.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $271.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $305.15.

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

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 115.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AMGN. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.00.

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.