Argent Trust Co Acquires 1,097 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Key Points

• Argent Trust Co increased its stake in Amgen Inc. by 4.4%, acquiring an additional 1,097 shares and bringing its total holdings to 26,114 shares valued at approximately $8.14 million.
• Amgen reported earnings per share (EPS) of $4.90 for the most recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $4.18 and achieving a revenue increase of 9.4% compared to the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $2.38 per share, indicating an annualized dividend of $9.52 and a yield of 3.2%, with a payout ratio of 86.86%.

Argent Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,114 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,097 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co's holdings in Amgen were worth $8,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 6,501 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,025,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 551.9% during the 1st quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,592 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $5,169,000 after purchasing an additional 14,047 shares during the last quarter. DCF Advisers LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 17.2% during the first quarter. DCF Advisers LLC now owns 6,825 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.6% during the first quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 246,355 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $76,752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,478 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 3.7% in the first quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 14,494 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,515,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $0.76 on Thursday, hitting $285.43. 941,205 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,901,821. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $293.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $292.39. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $339.17.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.28 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 180.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.97 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Amgen from $330.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total value of $434,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,162 shares in the company, valued at $2,364,368.16. This represents a 15.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

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.