Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Acquired by Simplify Asset Management Inc.

Simplify Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN – Get Rating) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,375 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Roundview Capital LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 8,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,027,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 39.2% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,297 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 1st quarter worth $219,000. First Western Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 1st quarter worth $334,000. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,688 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,970,000 after buying an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.53% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $216.90. 1,377,083 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,326,739. The company’s 50 day moving average is $238.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $252.92. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $214.48 and a twelve month high of $296.67. The company has a quick ratio of 2.79, a current ratio of 3.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.36. The company has a market capitalization of $115.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.64.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The medical research company reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.84 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.18 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 248.47% and a net margin of 30.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.25 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 18.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 18th will be given a $2.13 dividend. This represents a $8.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 17th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Amgen from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Argus decreased their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $270.00 in a report on Monday, February 6th. Cowen decreased their target price on Amgen from $307.00 to $289.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. StockNews.com started coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Amgen from $268.00 to $258.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $250.94.

About Amgen

(Get Rating)

Amgen, Inc is a biotechnology company, which engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of human therapeutics. It operates through Human Therapeutics segment. The company was founded by William K. Bowes, Jr., Franklin Pitcher Johnson, Jr., George B. Rathmann, and Joseph Rubinfeld on April 8, 1980 and is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, CA.