Empower Advisory Group LLC Purchases 11,063 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Amgen Inc. by 3.6% during the 1st quarter, owning approximately 314,529 shares worth around $97.99 million.
• Amgen announced a quarterly dividend of $2.38 per share, with an annualized yield of 3.2% and a payout ratio of 86.86%.
• The stock's current market cap is $162.36 billion, and it has a P/E ratio of 27.55, with analysts giving a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.27.

Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 314,529 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 11,063 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned about 0.06% of Amgen worth $97,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,205,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 5,154 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,343,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.5% during the first quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 4.5% during the first quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 861 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.7% in the first quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total value of $434,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares in the company, valued at $2,364,368.16. This represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup increased their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $328.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, May 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.23.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $284.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,588,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,017,625. The company has a market cap of $153.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.28, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.49. The business's fifty day moving average is $293.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $292.48. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $339.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.28 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 174.71% and a net margin of 18.96%. Amgen's revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.84%.

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.