Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Grows Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,651 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Amgen accounts for 1.0% of Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legacy Private Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 7,716 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,011,000 after purchasing an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. InvesTrust bought a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in Amgen by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 17,840 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,650,000 after buying an additional 2,103 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 515.0% during the 4th quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 9,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,380,000 after buying an additional 7,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norway Savings Bank increased its stake in Amgen by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 3,966 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $264.21 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $280.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $309.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.96 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $317.30.

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.