Guardian Investment Management Purchases 4,179 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Guardian Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 29.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,358 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,179 shares during the quarter. Amgen makes up approximately 3.3% of Guardian Investment Management's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Guardian Investment Management's holdings in Amgen were worth $4,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the second quarter worth $30,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Redburn Partners dropped their price target on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Amgen from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $314.91.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $2.68 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $272.11. The stock had a trading volume of 3,244,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,140,853. The company's 50-day moving average price is $273.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $307.18. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The company has a market capitalization of $146.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.96 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. 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.