NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Purchases 2,710 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,806 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,710 shares during the quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $26,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE raised its position in shares of Amgen by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMGN. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 target price 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. Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America upped their target price on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $309.22.

Amgen Trading Up 1.2%

AMGN stock traded up $3.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $287.02. 5,437,576 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,806,757. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The stock's fifty day moving average is $283.46 and its 200-day moving average is $285.23. The company has a market cap of $154.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors 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 yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's payout ratio is 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.