Financial Advocates Investment Management Raises Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,385 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 7.2% during the second quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 129,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $40,566,000 after purchasing an additional 8,700 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 11.0% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,758,000 after buying an additional 2,353 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in Amgen during the first quarter valued at approximately $4,772,000. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in Amgen during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,354,000. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 2.7% during the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 82,368 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,736,000 after buying an additional 2,182 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AMGN. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of 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 report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.55.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock opened at $315.54 on Thursday. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.70 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $324.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $314.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders 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 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

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.