Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $3.47 Million Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,314 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the second quarter worth $486,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 26.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 63,809 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,937,000 after purchasing an additional 13,542 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 51,851 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $16,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,005,000. Finally, Regal Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 1.5% in the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,303,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $282.95 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $271.39 and a 200-day moving average of $305.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMGN. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.65.

Amgen 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.