Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Takes $24.76 Million Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 95,000 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $24,761,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,352,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd raised its holdings in Amgen by 242.2% in the 4th quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 23,999 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $6,255,000 after buying an additional 16,985 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 285.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 394,489 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $102,820,000 after acquiring an additional 292,137 shares during the period. Aire Advisors LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 13,280 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $3,531,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 18th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $309.22.

Amgen Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $3.73 on Friday, hitting $287.27. 1,548,262 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,797,956. The company has a market cap of $154.47 billion, a PE ratio of 38.08, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. 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 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $283.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $285.50.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's payout ratio is currently 86.86%.

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.