Swedbank AB Buys 25,482 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Swedbank AB raised its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 564,381 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 25,482 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned 0.10% of Amgen worth $147,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Amgen by 3,955.0% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 174,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 169,748 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $1.91 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $282.21. The stock had a trading volume of 128,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,919,739. The company has a market capitalization of $151.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.17, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $271.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $305.15.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.96 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. 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 is presently 115.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group cut their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.00.

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.