Fred Alger Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Fred Alger Management LLC decreased its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 280,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 44,871 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Amgen worth $90,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Keynote Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 0.6% during the second quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 4,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,530,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,421,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Hofer & Associates. Inc lifted its position in Amgen by 0.5% during the second quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc now owns 6,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 0.6% during the third quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,678,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Lansing Street Advisors increased its position in shares of Amgen by 1.3% in the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial cut Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $333.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $323.05.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $280.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.55 billion, a PE ratio of 35.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $312.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $317.31. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $257.80 and a 52-week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.24%.

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.