3 Reasons to Buy and Hold This Dividend Stock

Worries over rising inflation, future interest rate hikes, and a possible economic downturn have led financial markets lower year to date. The S&P 500 index has dipped 17% so far this year. But steady dividend payers have fared much better.

For instance, shares of the pharma stock Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) have gained 12% year to date. Even with the recent rally in Amgen, I believe the stock is a great buy-and-hold candidate. Here are three reasons why.

In late April, Amgen announced results for its first quarter (ended March 31) and they managed to exceed analysts' consensus estimates. The company reported $6.2 billion in total revenue in the quarter, up 5.7% from the year-ago period. This narrowly topped the average analyst estimate of $6.1 billion. So how did Amgen surpass the analyst consensus for eight of the last 10 quarters?

Source Fool.com