Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 35,785 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

by · The Markets Daily

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN – Free Report) by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,785 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $204,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $362.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.50.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Amgen

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $321.91 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $323.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $316.68. The firm has a market cap of $173.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.22, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $260.52 and a one year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.96 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Amgen 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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