Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. Invests $2.08 Million in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 7,218 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,079,000. Amgen accounts for about 1.9% of Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 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 grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,977,625 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,875,306,000 after purchasing an additional 255,463 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in 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 increased its stake in 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 holdings in Amgen by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,356,359 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $902,055,000 after buying an additional 459,340 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $329.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Leerink Partnrs cut Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Raymond James started coverage on Amgen in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $296.95.

Amgen Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ AMGN traded up $0.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $269.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,436,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,035,139. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $211.71 and a fifty-two week high of $329.72. The company has a market cap of $144.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $275.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.52.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.05. Amgen had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 154.27%. The company had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.13 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.09 EPS. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.