Strata Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Strata Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 917 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Grassi Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the first quarter valued at $2,283,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 281,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $81,161,000 after buying an additional 4,376 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 129,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $40,566,000 after purchasing an additional 8,700 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Novak & Powell Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $803,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $335.61 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $180.03 billion, a PE ratio of 47.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.61. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $329.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $306.47. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.70 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

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). The company had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.00 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note 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. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Amgen from $360.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America raised their target price on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $332.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.28.

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.