Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Grows Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,285 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,533 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $9,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2,500.0% during the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 104 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 56.9% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 113 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Raymond James started coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. William Blair upgraded Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Amgen from $332.00 to $328.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.65.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $305.84. The stock had a trading volume of 2,425,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,869,476. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $211.71 and a fifty-two week high of $329.72. The company has a market cap of $164.06 billion, a PE ratio of 43.69, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $285.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $285.61.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. Amgen had a return on equity of 156.21% and a net margin of 12.74%. The business had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

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.