Busey Bank Boosts Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Busey Bank increased its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 81,289 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Busey Bank's holdings in Amgen were worth $21,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Amgen in the second quarter worth approximately $755,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth about $21,049,000. Lazari Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Amgen by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,367 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth about $846,000. Finally, Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. acquired a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth about $352,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $1.40 on Friday, hitting $285.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,799,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,064,420. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $271.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $304.84. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $153.42 billion, a PE ratio of 36.55, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The business 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%. Amgen's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.96 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company 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 is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMGN. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial cut their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.