Biotech pioneer (NASDAQ: AMGN) has several key elements of a good dividend stock. The company has raised its payout for 12 straight years, free cash flows have remained steady at a little over 30% of total sales for several years, and its 3.86% annualized yield is well above average for its large-cap peer group.

Amgen is also a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq-100 index, making its shares highly liquid. Lastly, the biotech's annualized yield now sits at an all-time high.

These favorable metrics don't tell the complete story, however. Amgen is moving into a highly uncertain period, characterized by high levels of competition from biosimilars (generic biologics) for many of its aging blockbusters, pushback from the Federal Trade Commission over its proposed takeover of Horizon Therapeutics (NASDAQ: HZNP), and serious question marks surrounding the rationale of this $28 billion buyout.

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Source Fool.com