OMC Financial Services LTD Takes Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

OMC Financial Services LTD bought a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,800 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMGN. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $102,000. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 55,779 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,538,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047 shares during the period. Visionary Horizons LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Visionary Horizons LLC now owns 4,371 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 32,541 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,481,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMGN. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $313.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $293.54 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $303.00. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $157.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.21%.

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.