Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 2,135 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lowered its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,025 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,135 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $20,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. United Community Bank bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 price target (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.28.

Amgen Stock Up 0.4 %

AMGN stock opened at $337.38 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $180.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.61. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $249.70 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $329.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $306.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.01 by ($0.04). Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. The company had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.00 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 128.57%.

Amgen 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.