Clarus Wealth Advisors Acquires New Shares in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Clarus Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 695 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Amgen in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $284.32 on Monday. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $211.71 and a one year high of $329.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $289.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.03. The firm has a market cap of $152.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $8.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.13 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 154.27% and a net margin of 23.83%. The company’s revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Amgen from $303.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $286.00 to $326.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.30.

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.