Meritage Portfolio Management Purchases 1,484 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Meritage Portfolio Management raised its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,142 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,484 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $7,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,589,900,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Amgen by 486.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 899,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $258,997,000 after buying an additional 745,929 shares during the period. abrdn plc boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 150.4% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,043,609 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $300,580,000 after buying an additional 626,810 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Amgen by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,079,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,365,213,000 after buying an additional 518,689 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,716,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $782,288,000 after purchasing an additional 490,539 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AMGN. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Amgen from $314.00 to $284.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $296.95.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $1.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $270.90. 891,709 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,802,904. The firm has a market cap of $145.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $275.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $211.71 and a one year high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.66 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.13 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 154.27% and a net margin of 23.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.09 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 72.06%.

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.