Sentry Investment Management LLC Buys 1,413 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 118.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,603 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,413 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $813,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Amgen by 547.8% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,556,912,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $14,809,720,000 after buying an additional 3,045,657 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Amgen by 137.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,377,007 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 28,684.1% during the first quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 833,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $236,924,000 after acquiring an additional 830,405 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $328.93 on Wednesday. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $249.70 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $326.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $302.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 128.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AMGN shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America increased their target price on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.28.

Amgen Company Profile

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.