Counterweight Ventures LLC Grows Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Counterweight Ventures LLC increased its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the quarter. Amgen makes up about 1.7% of Counterweight Ventures LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Counterweight Ventures LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiducient Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC now owns 5,023 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,570,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 19,091 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,965,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Umpqua Bank increased its position in Amgen by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 2,047 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $640,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Amgen by 22.7% during the 2nd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Amgen from $332.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Argus raised their price objective on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.28.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $320.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $249.70 and a one year high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.79, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a fifty day moving average of $326.26 and a 200 day moving average of $302.25.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.01 by ($0.04). Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. The firm had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.57%.

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.