Monarch Capital Management Inc. Invests $204,000 in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Monarch Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 710 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of Amgen stock traded up $0.95 on Tuesday, reaching $281.77. The stock had a trading volume of 3,343,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,066,948. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $211.71 and a 1 year high of $329.72. The company has a market cap of $151.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $290.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $280.50.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted 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 the consensus estimate of $8.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.48 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $286.00 to $326.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $315.00 to $314.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.30.

Amgen Company Profile

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.