Morse Asset Management Inc Invests $806,000 in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,500 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $806,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lantz Financial LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 5.1% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 1,779 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $390,000. Silver Lake Advisory LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 38.5% during the second quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at $128,000. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 5.2% in the second quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,168 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMGN. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Amgen from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $319.68.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN traded up $0.82 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $274.23. The stock had a trading volume of 2,289,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,613,464. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.41 billion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.55. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $257.80 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company's 50-day moving average is $303.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $315.16.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.96 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This is a boost from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Amgen's payout ratio is currently 121.90%.

About Amgen

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.