Merit Financial Group LLC Has $4.86 Million Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 31.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,643 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 4,447 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $4,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMGN. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,421,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Lansing Street Advisors increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Unionview LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Traveka Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 807 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Amgen stock traded up $2.68 on Friday, reaching $272.11. 3,244,015 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,140,853. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The firm's 50-day moving average is $273.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $307.20. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business's revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.96 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders 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 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AMGN shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $314.91.

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.