Northern Financial Advisors Inc Increases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Northern Financial Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 27.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,258 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,136 shares during the quarter. Amgen makes up approximately 1.3% of Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. BIP Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 1,249 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Southland Equity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 999 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its position in Amgen by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 4,626 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,332,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMGN. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, April 12th. William Blair upgraded shares of Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Amgen from $332.00 to $328.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.05.

Amgen Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $2.46 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $302.76. 900,127 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,887,334. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $211.71 and a fifty-two week high of $329.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $275.65 and its 200-day moving average is $281.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96. The company has a market cap of $162.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 156.21% and a net margin of 12.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. Analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.69% 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.