Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Mediolanum International Funds Ltd

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,550 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 485 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Amgen were worth $7,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 18.7% during the first quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,759 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen by 37.4% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,642 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,310,000 after acquiring an additional 3,168 shares during the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen by 12.3% in the first quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 911 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. grew its position in Amgen by 3.5% in the first quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 8,260 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,349,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 1.1% during the first quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,703 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,905,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price target (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.55.

Amgen Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $316.98 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.70 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $325.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $313.47. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $170.04 billion, a PE ratio of 45.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

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.