Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lessened its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,803 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 101 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 1.6 %

AMGN stock opened at $294.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $158.32 billion, a PE ratio of 37.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $316.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $318.11. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $260.68 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. Amgen’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.52 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AMGN. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com raised Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.57.

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.