Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stake Boosted by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,084 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 4,101 shares during the quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $13,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Down 0.7 %

AMGN stock opened at $284.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $290.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $280.70. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $211.71 and a 52-week high of $329.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share 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 for the quarter was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Amgen from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $264.00 to $320.00 in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Amgen from $315.00 to $314.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $295.30.

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.