Buck Wealth Strategies LLC Cuts Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Buck Wealth Strategies LLC reduced its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,337 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,606 shares during the quarter. Amgen accounts for approximately 2.1% of Buck Wealth Strategies LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the second quarter worth $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 target price (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded 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. UBS Group reduced their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.50.

Amgen Trading Down 7.1 %

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $298.84 on Wednesday. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.52 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $160.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.26, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s fifty day moving average is $323.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $318.07. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.96 EPS. Analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 115.24%.

Amgen Company 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.