Matrix Trust Co Acquires 346 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Matrix Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 306.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 459 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the quarter. Matrix Trust Co’s holdings in Amgen were worth $120,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Amgen by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 116,548 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,377,000 after purchasing an additional 7,089 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 7,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,913,000 after purchasing an additional 2,175 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,559 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,712 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,053,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.91.

Amgen Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $270.19 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $278.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $308.35.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.96 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 EPS 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 given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 121.90%.

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.