Waypoint Wealth Partners Inc. Makes New Investment in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Key Points

• Waypoint Wealth Partners Inc. acquired 875 shares of Amgen Inc. valued at approximately $273,000 in the first quarter, increasing institutional investment interest in the company.
• A recent dividend of $2.38 per share has been announced, reflecting an annualized yield of 3.3% and a payout ratio of 77.84%.
• Amgen's stock has a current consensus rating of "Hold" with a target price of $303.76, following mixed ratings from several research analysts.

Waypoint Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 875 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. KPP Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 87.1% in the first quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the first quarter valued at $1,331,000. DLK Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 7.3% in the first quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 20,491 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $6,384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.7% in the first quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 24.8% in the first quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 21,382 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $6,662,000 after purchasing an additional 4,252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,364,368.16. This represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $303.76.

Amgen Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of AMGN opened at $289.33 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.49. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $339.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $293.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $292.80.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.28 by $0.74. Amgen had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 174.71%. The company had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.97 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is 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.

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