Meritage Portfolio Management Has $7.82 Million Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Meritage Portfolio Management grew its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,142 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,484 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $7,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ziegler Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 9,621 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,586,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 38.8% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,311 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206 shares during the period. Cedar Brook Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $200,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen by 2.6% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 20,648 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,866,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 81.2% during the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,954 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,406,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMGN. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Raymond James began coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $296.95.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $1.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $270.90. 891,709 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,802,904. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $211.71 and a 52-week high of $329.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $275.38 and a 200 day moving average of $281.46. The company has a market cap of $145.31 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.58.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.05. Amgen had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 154.27%. The business had revenue of $8.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.09 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. 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 3.32%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 72.06%.

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.