New Jersey Better Educational Savings Trust Makes New $228,000 Investment in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

New Jersey Better Educational Savings Trust acquired a new position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 790 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,035,981 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,178,910,000 after acquiring an additional 165,636 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,977,625 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,875,306,000 after acquiring an additional 255,463 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,437,182 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,461,297,000 after acquiring an additional 61,528 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 11.4% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,079,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,365,213,000 after acquiring an additional 518,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 15.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,356,359 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $902,055,000 after acquiring an additional 459,340 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN traded down $3.63 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $269.38. 1,792,738 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,827,451. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $211.71 and a 12-month high of $329.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $275.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $281.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.05. Amgen had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 154.27%. The firm had revenue of $8.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 72.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. SVB Leerink downgraded shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $314.00 to $284.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.