Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock Position Lifted by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 31.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,643 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,447 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.91.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN opened at $272.11 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $273.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $307.22. The stock has a market cap of $146.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.84, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.96 EPS. Analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.24%.

Amgen 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.