Argyle Capital Management Inc. Has $6.50 Million Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,571 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,175 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises approximately 2.7% of Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its holdings in Amgen by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 1,366 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $216,000. Little House Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 7,190 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,071,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,834 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,984,000 after purchasing an additional 2,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank OZK boosted its holdings in Amgen by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank OZK now owns 11,576 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,334,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, April 12th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. SVB Leerink cut Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $296.95.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $0.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $269.98. 2,436,959 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,035,139. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $211.71 and a 52-week high of $329.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $275.10 and a 200 day moving average of $281.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $144.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.58.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.05. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.43 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.06%.

Amgen 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.