Sierra Summit Advisors LLC Trims Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 87.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,704 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 19,688 shares during the period. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. United Community Bank bought a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Up 0.7 %

Amgen stock opened at $332.45 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $328.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $304.00. The company has a market capitalization of $178.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.61. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.70 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released 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 net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The business had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Amgen from $360.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price objective (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.28.

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.