Evernest Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Evernest Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $256.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.00.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $284.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $152.67 billion, a PE ratio of 36.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $271.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $304.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is 115.24%.

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.