Weaver Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Weaver Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,567 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 518 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 129,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,566,000 after acquiring an additional 8,700 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Amgen by 37.4% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,642 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,310,000 after purchasing an additional 3,168 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its position in Amgen by 19.1% in the first quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 38,067 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,823,000 after buying an additional 6,116 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 11.0% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,758,000 after buying an additional 2,353 shares during the period. Finally, SMI Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,933,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $319.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $171.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.67, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $249.70 and a 52-week high of $346.85. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $325.93 and its 200 day moving average is $313.11.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The company’s revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 128.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 target price (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday. 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 issued 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 target price of $332.55.

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.