Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 69 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,872 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $6.74 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $314.05. 1,563,039 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,893,819. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $211.71 and a 52-week high of $329.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96. The company has a market cap of $168.47 billion, a PE ratio of 43.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $275.65 and a 200 day moving average of $281.74.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 156.21% and a net margin of 12.74%. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.98 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. William Blair upgraded Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays raised Amgen from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $230.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Amgen from $271.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.65.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total value of $662,811.53. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.