J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Buys 6,643 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 238.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,643 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN traded up $6.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $268.93. The stock had a trading volume of 3,380,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,077,465. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $211.71 and a 1 year high of $329.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.65. The business has a fifty day moving average of $276.90 and a 200 day moving average of $281.26. The company has a market cap of $144.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.58.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.13 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 154.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.09 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $329.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Leerink Partnrs lowered Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. SVB Leerink downgraded shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $324.00 to $318.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $314.00 to $284.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $296.95.

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.