New Century Financial Group LLC Acquires 151 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,214 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Amgen by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,084 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $888,000 after buying an additional 1,171 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 2,504 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. DCF Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. DCF Advisers LLC now owns 7,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Amgen by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,081,354 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $311,452,000 after purchasing an additional 338,515 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $322.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $172.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.03, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $249.70 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $328.49 and its 200 day moving average is $308.12.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by ($0.04). Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The firm had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AMGN. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $405.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 target price (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.55.

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.