Perennial Advisors LLC Takes Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Perennial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 19,141 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $4,989,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Grassi Investment Management increased its position in Amgen by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Grassi Investment Management now owns 4,600 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $270,000. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 138.4% in the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 2,248 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $586,000 after buying an additional 1,305 shares during the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 1,186 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 27,468 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $7,159,000 after acquiring an additional 5,226 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Up 1.8%

AMGN traded up $5.14 during trading on Thursday, hitting $283.54. 2,801,127 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,801,330. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $284.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $285.76. The firm has a market cap of $152.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.96 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is presently 86.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $329.00 to $328.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $309.22.

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.