Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 192,820 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 59.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 518,796 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 192,820 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Amgen worth $135,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 27,468 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $7,159,000 after purchasing an additional 5,226 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 38.3% in the 4th quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 2,954 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $770,000 after purchasing an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 13,314 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,470,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $236,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $3.48 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $287.02. 5,437,576 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,806,757. The stock has a market cap of $154.33 billion, a PE ratio of 38.02, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $283.46 and a 200 day moving average of $285.23. 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 earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. The firm's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.96 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's payout ratio is 86.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $329.00 to $328.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $309.22.

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.