Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Takes Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 95,000 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $24,761,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Amgen by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 19,351 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $5,043,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $1,027,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $275,000. United Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $308,000. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $166,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $5.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $283.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,801,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,801,332. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $284.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $285.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.46 billion, a PE ratio of 37.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.96 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMGN. Erste Group Bank lowered Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim began coverage on Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 target price on the stock. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $309.22.

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.