Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Boosts Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 943 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMGN. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $314.00 to $284.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $296.95.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $269.98. 2,436,959 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,035,139. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.65. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $275.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.45. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $211.71 and a 1-year high of $329.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.58.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.66 by $0.05. Amgen had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 154.27%. The firm had revenue of $8.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.09 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.06%.

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.