Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock Position Raised by Verity & Verity LLC

Verity & Verity LLC increased its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,368 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises about 2.9% of Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $25,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Keynote Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 0.6% during the second quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 4,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,421,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 17.1% during the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 219 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.5% in the second quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc now owns 6,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blossom Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.3% in the second quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 1,023 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Friday, September 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $405.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of 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 lowered shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.55.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $320.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $328.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $308.48. 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 $171.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.70 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.57%.

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.