HBW Advisory Services LLC Acquires 88 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

HBW Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,559 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of AMGN traded down $3.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $260.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,422,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,820,186. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $280.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $309.15. The company has a market cap of $140.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56. 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 Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.96 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 121.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Amgen from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Redburn Partners reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.91.

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.