Busey Bank Increases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Busey Bank increased its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,289 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,846 shares during the quarter. Busey Bank’s holdings in Amgen were worth $21,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the third quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Lansing Street Advisors lifted its holdings in Amgen by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Unionview LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 807 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AM Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 7,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,407,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.00.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $281.68 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $271.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $305.15. The company has a market cap of $151.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.07, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.96 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.24%.

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.