Busey Bank Acquires 126 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Busey Bank lifted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,443 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 126 shares during the quarter. Busey Bank’s holdings in Amgen were worth $25,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keynote Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 0.6% during the second quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 4,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,530,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its position in Amgen by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,421,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 17.1% in the 1st quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 219 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc boosted its position in Amgen by 0.5% in the second quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc now owns 6,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cadinha & Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.6% during the third quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,678,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMGN. Dbs Bank raised Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $362.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.55.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $315.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $169.35 billion, a PE ratio of 45.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $249.70 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $325.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $313.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.00 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 128.57%.

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.