Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV trimmed its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 294,421 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 9,502 shares during the period. Amgen accounts for approximately 0.6% of ING Groep NV’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Amgen were worth $94,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 1.4 %

Amgen stock traded down $4.25 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $297.19. The stock had a trading volume of 1,063,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,429,708. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $260.52 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $159.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.60, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $322.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $318.15.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 115.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America upped their target price on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.57.

About Amgen

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.