MFA Wealth Services Takes $1.77 Million Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

MFA Wealth Services acquired a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,771,000. Amgen accounts for approximately 1.4% of MFA Wealth Services’ portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Talbot Financial LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Amgen by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $513,033,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Amgen by 6.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $204,659,000 after acquiring an additional 35,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.2% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMGN. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.91.

Amgen Stock Up 1.6 %

AMGN stock opened at $277.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.58, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $271.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $306.43.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.96 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

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.