First Citizens Financial Corp Buys Shares of 742 Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

First Citizens Financial Corp purchased a new position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 742 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,721,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,741,409,000 after buying an additional 339,522 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Amgen by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,441,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,475,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,245,881,000 after purchasing an additional 352,143 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Amgen by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,182,843,000 after purchasing an additional 3,495,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 1,292.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,693,042,000 after purchasing an additional 6,029,058 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $278.40 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $284.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $285.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $149.70 billion, a PE ratio of 36.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Amgen from $329.00 to $328.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $315.00 price target (down from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $309.22.

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.