Mechanics Bank Trust Department Increases Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department increased its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,854 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Leerink Partners cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.91.

Amgen Trading Up 1.0 %

AMGN opened at $272.11 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $146.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The business’s 50 day moving average is $273.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $307.20. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.24%.

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.