Exeter Financial LLC Purchases 313 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Exeter Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,424 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the period. Amgen comprises 1.4% of Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,421,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 0.6% during the third quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,678,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Lansing Street Advisors raised its position in Amgen by 1.3% in the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Unionview LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 3.8% in the third quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Traveka Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 807 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on AMGN. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Robert W. Baird restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Redburn Partners lowered their price objective on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.91.

Amgen Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $270.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.24 billion, a PE ratio of 34.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 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. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $278.16 and a 200 day moving average of $308.35.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.96 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.90%.

About Amgen

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.