Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stake Raised by Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 32,541 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises about 2.1% of Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $8,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,045 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $533,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 182.2% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 20,544 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,327,000 after acquiring an additional 13,263 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Amgen by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,234 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,013,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $6,306,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 89,086 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $23,219,000 after purchasing an additional 25,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $293.54 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $272.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $303.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.26.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Redburn Partners lowered their price objective on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $313.23.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company 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.