Waverly Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 17.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,014 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 4,703 shares during the quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $8,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE raised its position in shares of Amgen by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $271.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,531,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,794,457. The business's fifty day moving average is $286.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $286.72. The stock has a market cap of $146.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.98, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

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. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.96 earnings per share. Amgen's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's payout ratio is currently 86.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on AMGN shares. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $315.00 price target (down from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on Amgen in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $309.22.

Amgen 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.