Easterly Investment Partners LLC Sells 3,665 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,948 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,665 shares during the period. Amgen comprises about 1.3% of Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $16,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 5.3% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 64,427 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $18,318,000 after buying an additional 3,246 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 1st quarter valued at about $612,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 7,498 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,860 shares during the last quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC now owns 18,654 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,304,000 after purchasing an additional 2,901 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 28,684.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 833,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $236,924,000 after purchasing an additional 830,405 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN traded up $4.57 on Friday, hitting $326.48. 273,850 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,402,465. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $260.52 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.22, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $323.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $316.68.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.96 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on AMGN shares. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $362.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.50.

Amgen Company 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.