IFM Investors Pty Ltd Increases Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 111,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Amgen were worth $35,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth about $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth about $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded up $0.18 during trading on Thursday, reaching $315.08. The stock had a trading volume of 399,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,427,459. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $325.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $313.12. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $249.70 and a one year high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $169.02 billion, a PE ratio of 44.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by ($0.04). Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The business had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.00 EPS. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 128.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price target (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $333.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.55.

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.