Ridgewood Investments LLC Acquires 2,056 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 11,422.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,074 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,056 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. MGO One Seven LLC increased its position in Amgen by 17.5% during the 2nd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 7,113 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Amgen by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 828 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Amgen by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 746,946 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $233,383,000 after purchasing an additional 66,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Amgen by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of AMGN traded down $2.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $262.08. 761,652 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,714,780. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $280.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $309.15. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $140.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.56, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the subject 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. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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 company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.91.

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.