Hershey Financial Advisers LLC Purchases New Shares in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 96 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $786,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 9,112 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,084 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $791,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 1.1 %

Amgen stock opened at $322.67 on Monday. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $249.70 and a one year high of $346.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $328.77 and a 200 day moving average of $307.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $173.09 billion, a PE ratio of 46.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by ($0.04). Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. The business had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.00 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on AMGN shares. Dbs Bank raised shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.55.

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.