White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 149.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,578 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 3,941 shares during the period. Amgen makes up about 0.7% of White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $1,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Grassi Investment Management lifted its holdings in Amgen by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Grassi Investment Management now owns 4,600 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,199,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 62.0% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,550 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,750,000 after buying an additional 4,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 2,750 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $717,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. Erste Group Bank lowered Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim began coverage on Amgen in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday. Two 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $309.22.

Amgen Price Performance

Amgen stock traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $271.90. 1,919,266 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,792,887. The stock has a market cap of $146.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.01, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The stock's fifty day moving average is $287.76 and its 200-day moving average is $287.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS 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 issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's payout ratio is 86.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.