Ledyard National Bank Grows Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Ledyard National Bank grew its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 32,423 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 597 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Amgen were worth $9,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth $26,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $6.40 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $276.38. 2,678,923 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,820,901. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $211.71 and a twelve month high of $329.72. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $274.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.45. The firm has a market cap of $148.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on AMGN. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $314.00 to $284.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Raymond James began coverage on Amgen in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. SVB Leerink lowered shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.40.

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.