Willner & Heller LLC Boosts Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Willner & Heller LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 81.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,925 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,317 shares during the period. Willner & Heller LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at about $56,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $272.11 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $273.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $307.20. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $146.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.96 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.50%. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Amgen from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.91.

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.