Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by LS Investment Advisors LLC

LS Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 14.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,728 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 652 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter worth $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Amgen in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 0.0 %

Amgen stock opened at $321.91 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.52 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $323.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $316.68. The firm has a market cap of $173.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 115.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price objective (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $362.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.50.

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.