Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 178,304 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 54.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 504,280 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 178,304 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $131,436,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth $25,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Down 1.0 %

Amgen stock traded down $2.53 on Friday, hitting $261.68. 595,318 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,690,109. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $280.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $309.15. The firm has a market cap of $140.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 121.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMGN. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.91.

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.