Avanza Fonder AB Purchases Shares of 59,122 Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 59,122 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $15,410,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $314.91.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $2.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $272.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,244,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,140,853. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The business has a fifty day moving average of $273.95 and a 200-day moving average of $307.22. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $146.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.96 EPS. Amgen's quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a boost from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.24%.

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.