Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Acquired by United Asset Strategies Inc.

United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 32,413 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $8,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 33,125.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,437,115,000 after acquiring an additional 4,446,757 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 6,812.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,523,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,130,610,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486,882 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Amgen by 561.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,539,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $496,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,982 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 9,058.1% in the second quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 756,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $223,897,000 after purchasing an additional 748,200 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,338,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $609,526,000 after buying an additional 676,598 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Redburn Partners lowered their target price on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.65.

Amgen Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $275.42 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $271.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $305.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders 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 represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.