Talbot Financial LLC Raises Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Talbot Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares during the period. Talbot Financial LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $11,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Amgen by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $513,033,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 9.0% during the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 6.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $204,659,000 after acquiring an additional 35,785 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.2% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 40.1% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 7,552 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $5.95 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $268.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,383,097 shares, 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. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $279.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $308.66. The company has a market cap of $144.16 billion, a PE ratio of 34.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. 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 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 121.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.91.

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.