Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY Has $24.25 Million Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY increased its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 96.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 93,022 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 45,573 shares during the period. Amgen accounts for about 2.6% of Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY's holdings in Amgen were worth $24,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays boosted their price target on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Redburn Partners reduced their price target on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $314.00.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $2.65 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $280.30. 2,735,290 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,086,493. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $271.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $305.51. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.96 earnings per share. Amgen's quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.40%. This is an increase from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen's 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.