Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Acquired by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,638 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 33.0% during the third quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $684,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $239,000. NBT Bank N A NY lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 23.6% in the third quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 4,277 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Keel Point LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 7.1% in the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 2,016 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $542,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 15.0% during the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded up $3.76 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $304.06. The stock had a trading volume of 770,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,885,893. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $275.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.74. The company has a market capitalization of $163.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.90, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $211.71 and a 1-year high of $329.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 156.21% and a net margin of 12.74%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.98 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on AMGN. Barclays upgraded shares of Amgen from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $230.00 to $300.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. SVB Leerink lowered Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.05.

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.