Peoples Financial Services CORP. Buys 50 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Peoples Financial Services CORP. raised its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,850 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 21.0% during the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 20,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,390,000 after buying an additional 3,555 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 28.5% during the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 14,218 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,442,000 after buying an additional 3,156 shares during the last quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the second quarter worth about $3,855,000. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen during the second quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, Alpha Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the second quarter worth about $244,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Amgen stock opened at $267.10 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $277.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $308.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.58 billion, a PE ratio of 34.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 121.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Robert W. Baird restated an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Partners cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.91.

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.