Convergence Investment Partners LLC Sells 313 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Convergence Investment Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 313 shares during the quarter. Amgen accounts for approximately 1.8% of Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 42.2% in the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 4.8% in the third quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Covenant Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter worth $690,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 1.5% in the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,844,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners raised its holdings in Amgen by 1.4% in the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 8,658 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,327,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $269.98. The stock had a trading volume of 2,436,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,035,139. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $275.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.52. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $211.71 and a one year high of $329.72. The firm has a market cap of $144.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.05. Amgen had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 154.27%. The company had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.09 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.43 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $314.00 to $284.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $296.95.

Amgen Company 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.