TCW Group Inc. Grows Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

TCW Group Inc. grew its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 276,727 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,984 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc. owned about 0.05% of Amgen worth $89,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $275.75 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $305.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $315.66. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $257.80 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The company has a market capitalization of $148.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMGN. StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $319.68.

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.