Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,836 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,035,981 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,178,910,000 after acquiring an additional 165,636 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,977,625 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,875,306,000 after buying an additional 255,463 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,437,182 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,461,297,000 after buying an additional 61,528 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,079,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,365,213,000 after buying an additional 518,689 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,356,359 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $902,055,000 after purchasing an additional 459,340 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN traded down $3.63 on Thursday, hitting $269.38. 1,792,738 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,827,451. The company has a 50 day moving average of $275.38 and a 200-day moving average of $281.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.49 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.58. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $211.71 and a 12-month high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.66 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.13 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 154.27% and a net margin of 23.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 72.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $329.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. SVB Leerink cut Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $296.95.

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.