Verity & Verity LLC Raises Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Verity & Verity LLC grew its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,490 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,895 shares during the period. Amgen comprises about 2.2% of Verity & Verity LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $24,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 14,157 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,690,000 after buying an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Amgen by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 48,008 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,513,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $252,000. Somerset Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 19,183 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,000,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 18,643 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,859,000 after purchasing an additional 4,447 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AMGN opened at $272.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.84, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company has a 50-day moving average of $275.01 and a 200 day moving average of $307.49.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $2.38 per share. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays increased their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.91.

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.