Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,151 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the third quarter worth $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $277.88 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $271.91 and a 200 day moving average of $306.43. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $149.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.96 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.