Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Has $10.20 Million Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,422 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,440 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $10,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. SouthState Corp increased its position in Amgen by 111.0% in the 4th quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 22,532 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,490,000 after buying an additional 11,854 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Amgen by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC now owns 1,649 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $518,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 111.9% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 989,061 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $284,869,000 after acquiring an additional 522,367 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Price Performance

Amgen stock traded up $32.90 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $311.29. 9,644,103 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,894,568. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.65. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $211.71 and a 52 week high of $329.72. The firm has a market cap of $166.97 billion, a PE ratio of 24.92, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s fifty day moving average is $274.51 and its 200-day moving average is $281.33.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 154.27% and a net margin of 23.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.43 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMGN. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. William Blair raised shares of Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.05.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.