Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Naviter Wealth LLC

Naviter Wealth LLC cut its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,313 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 152 shares during the quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $362.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $329.48.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN traded up $0.46 during trading on Thursday, reaching $322.09. The stock had a trading volume of 63,463 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,444,613. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $249.70 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $326.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $311.56. 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 earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio 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.