Range Financial Group LLC Acquires 7,648 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Range Financial Group LLC increased its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 515.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,648 shares during the quarter. Amgen makes up about 1.1% of Range Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Range Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Amgen by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $513,033,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 9.0% in the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,578,000 after purchasing an additional 2,954 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Amgen by 6.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $204,659,000 after purchasing an additional 35,785 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Amgen by 3.2% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Napa Wealth Management bought a new position in Amgen in the third quarter worth approximately $1,104,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.83.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN traded up $3.47 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $262.06. 3,171,241 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,277,652. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $283.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $310.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.