Caprock Group LLC Acquires 1,017 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,424 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,017 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN opened at $278.76 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $319.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $318.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.52 and a 52-week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amgen has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.57.

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.