O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. Lowers Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. lessened its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,551 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 91 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises 4.6% of O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $15,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,088,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,809,720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,045,657 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Amgen by 547.8% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,005,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,991,738,000 after acquiring an additional 5,923,915 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,564,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,890,769,000 after acquiring an additional 243,720 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,831,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,679,625,000 after acquiring an additional 751,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Amgen by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,701,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $844,137,000 after purchasing an additional 162,223 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. 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 research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $362.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Amgen in a research note on Friday, September 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $405.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.30.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN opened at $317.68 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $326.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $309.76. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $249.70 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $170.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.38, a PEG ratio of 2.98 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.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released 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 quarter last year, the company earned $5.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued 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 yield of 2.83%. 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.