Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) to Issue $2.38 Quarterly Dividend

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 4th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of 2.38 per share by the medical research company on Friday, June 6th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%.

Amgen has increased its dividend by an average of 8.5% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Amgen has a dividend payout ratio of 44.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Amgen to earn $21.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $9.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.5%.

Amgen Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of AMGN traded up $2.50 on Wednesday, reaching $314.69. 104,386 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,536,659. Amgen has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $282.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $299.66.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Research analysts anticipate that Amgen will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AMGN shares. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Amgen stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 23.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,468 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 5,226 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $7,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.