Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Acquired by Gradient Investments LLC

Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 22.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,505 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,095 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $12,903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MBB Public Markets I LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 54.0% during the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 75,712 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $23,656,000 after buying an additional 26,553 shares during the period. Marathon Capital Management grew its stake in Amgen by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marathon Capital Management now owns 1,188 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $371,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $15,155,000. Scientech Research LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 442.1% during the second quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 4,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,548,000 after purchasing an additional 4,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 41,302 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,902 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $275.42 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $148.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a P/E/G 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $271.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $306.24.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. 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. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $256.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Redburn Partners decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.65.

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.