MQS Management LLC Acquires Shares of 679 Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 679 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth about $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Down 4.2 %

Amgen stock opened at $283.61 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $321.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $318.00. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $152.45 billion, a PE ratio of 36.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $260.52 and a 12-month high of $346.85.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 115.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial cut shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $333.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price target (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.57.

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.