Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Purchased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 38.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,095 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,413 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Amgen by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $9,446,236,000 after buying an additional 345,537 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,122,889 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,893,771,000 after purchasing an additional 103,851 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Amgen by 2.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,532,629 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,393,718,000 after purchasing an additional 251,876 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,657,183,000 after purchasing an additional 538,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in Amgen by 33,125.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,437,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,446,757 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Trading Up 0.5 %

Amgen stock traded up $1.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $285.42. The stock had a trading volume of 3,799,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,746,697. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $271.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $304.53. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve 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 stock has a market capitalization of $153.42 billion, a PE ratio of 36.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The company's revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.96 EPS. Analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMGN. UBS Group decreased their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $314.00.

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.