Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,446 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 15,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,105,000 after buying an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 9,621 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,586,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Essex LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $228,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $238,000. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 4.9% during the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 6,953 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,869,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $314.00 to $284.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $296.95.

Amgen Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $1.98 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $273.89. 1,469,674 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,830,939. The firm has a market cap of $146.91 billion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.58. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $211.71 and a fifty-two week high of $329.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.66 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $8.20 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.06%.

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.