US Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

US Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,196 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $632,000.

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

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 0.3 %

AMGN traded up $0.91 on Friday, hitting $313.77. 1,325,221 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,891,774. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.32 billion, a PE ratio of 44.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $277.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $282.14. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $211.71 and a 12 month high of $329.72.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMGN. Barclays upgraded Amgen from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $300.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $284.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, March 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.65.

Amgen Company 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.