Versant Capital Management Inc Increases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 12.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,067 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 116 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Amgen were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 547.8% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,005,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,991,738,000 after purchasing an additional 5,923,915 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Amgen by 6.2% during the first 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 period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 137.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,381,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $676,984,000 after buying an additional 1,377,007 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 28,684.1% in the first quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 833,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $236,924,000 after buying an additional 830,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,831,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,679,625,000 after purchasing an additional 751,947 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $317.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $327.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $309.48. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $249.70 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $170.29 billion, a PE ratio of 45.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 128.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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. 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 report on Thursday, July 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $362.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 target price (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.30.

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.