Townsquare Capital LLC Buys 8,789 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Amgen Inc. by 27.3% during the 1st quarter, acquiring an additional 8,789 shares to reach a total of 40,954 shares valued at approximately $12.76 million.
• Amgen's most recent quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' expectations, reporting an EPS of $6.02 compared to a consensus estimate of $5.28, alongside a revenue of $9.18 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $2.38 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.3%, with a payout ratio of 77.84%.

Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 27.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 40,954 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 8,789 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $12,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. First Pacific Financial raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 304.5% during the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 89 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 141 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the business'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 transaction of $434,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. The trade was a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Amgen from $330.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Erste Group Bank lowered Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim started coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $303.76.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN stock traded up $2.95 on Wednesday, reaching $287.93. 740,333 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,880,021. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $339.17. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $293.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.01 billion, a PE ratio of 23.53, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.28 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 174.71% and a net margin of 18.96%. Amgen's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.97 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate 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, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given 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 dividend yield of 3.3%. Amgen's payout ratio is currently 77.84%.

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.