United Asset Strategies Inc. Grows Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

United Asset Strategies Inc. grew its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 32,413 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 820 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $8,448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Amgen by 33,125.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,437,115,000 after buying an additional 4,446,757 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 6,812.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,523,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,130,610,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486,882 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 561.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,539,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $496,117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306,982 shares in the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 9,058.1% during the second quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 756,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $223,897,000 after acquiring an additional 748,200 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Amgen by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,338,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $609,526,000 after purchasing an additional 676,598 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $275.42 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $271.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $305.92. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The firm has a market cap of $148.05 billion, a PE ratio of 35.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.56. 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 (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.96 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Redburn Partners reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.65.

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.