Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. Takes Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

by · The Markets Daily

Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. bought a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN – Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 954 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $307,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Amgen by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,088,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,809,720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,045,657 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 547.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,005,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,991,738,000 after purchasing an additional 5,923,915 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Amgen by 6.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,701,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $844,137,000 after buying an additional 162,223 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Amgen by 137.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,381,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $676,984,000 after buying an additional 1,377,007 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Amgen by 27.4% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,237,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $635,179,000 after acquiring an additional 481,214 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock opened at $321.66 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $249.70 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.55 billion, a PE ratio of 45.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $326.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $312.15.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.01 by ($0.04). Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The company had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $329.48.

View Our Latest Analysis on AMGN

Amgen Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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