Morton Community Bank Decreases Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Morton Community Bank cut its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,782 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its holdings in Amgen by 7.2% in the second quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 129,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,566,000 after buying an additional 8,700 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.2% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares during the period. Napa Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth approximately $1,104,000. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $513,033,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 40.1% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 7,552 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,433,000 after acquiring an additional 2,163 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Leerink Partners reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $323.05.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock opened at $282.87 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $257.80 and a one year high of $346.85. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $311.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $317.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $152.05 billion, a PE ratio of 36.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.24%.

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.