Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Holdings Raised by Talbot Financial LLC

Talbot Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares during the quarter. Talbot Financial LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $11,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.91.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $5.95 on Monday, hitting $268.18. 1,383,097 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,803,556. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $144.16 billion, a PE ratio of 34.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $279.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $308.66.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.90%.

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.