Prospera Financial Services Inc Buys 6,662 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 28.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 30,373 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 6,662 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Amgen were worth $9,788,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Amgen by 547.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,005,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,991,738,000 after purchasing an additional 5,923,915 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 33,125.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,437,115,000 after buying an additional 4,446,757 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 6.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,701,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $844,137,000 after acquiring an additional 162,223 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 6,812.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,523,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,130,610,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Amgen by 137.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,381,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $676,984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,007 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Down 0.9 %

Amgen stock opened at $278.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $319.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $318.65. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $260.52 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $149.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.