JGP Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

JGP Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,470 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,614 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises about 1.8% of JGP Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. JGP Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $14,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AMGN. TD Cowen increased their price target on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Finally, Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $314.91.

Amgen Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AMGN traded up $2.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $272.11. 3,244,015 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,118,001. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $146.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.84, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.56. The business's 50-day moving average price is $275.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $307.49. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

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