Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Bought by Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp

Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp raised its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,087 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the quarter. Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Roundview Capital LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 1.3% in the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 8,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,027,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 39.2% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,297 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the first quarter worth about $219,000. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in Amgen during the first quarter worth about $334,000. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 2.1% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,688 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,970,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $1.32 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $262.75. 2,082,442 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,851,966. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $277.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.37. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $211.71 and a 52 week high of $329.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.58.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.13 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 154.27% and a net margin of 23.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 72.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James assumed coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Amgen from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $264.00 to $320.00 in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $296.95.

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.