MFA Wealth Services Buys Shares of 6,795 Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

MFA Wealth Services purchased a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,771,000. Amgen accounts for about 1.4% of MFA Wealth Services’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth $29,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at about $56,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research 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 research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.91.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $277.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.37 billion, a PE ratio of 35.58, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $271.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $306.43. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.96 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. 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 3.43%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.24%.

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.