Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Announces $2.38 Quarterly Dividend

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 4th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of 2.38 per share by the medical research company on Friday, June 6th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%.

Amgen has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.5% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Amgen has a payout ratio of 44.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Amgen to earn $21.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $9.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.5%.

Amgen Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AMGN traded up $1.41 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $312.19. The stock had a trading volume of 3,819,193 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,546,089. Amgen has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $281.80 and its 200 day moving average is $299.73. The firm has a market cap of $167.71 billion, a PE ratio of 41.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. As a group, analysts forecast that Amgen will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. This trade represents a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Amgen stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 23.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,468 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 5,226 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $7,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AMGN. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

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.