Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by L & S Advisors Inc

L & S Advisors Inc lowered its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 46.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,774 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 9,316 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.7% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 49,931 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,241,000 after buying an additional 1,311 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 11.0% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,758,000 after purchasing an additional 2,353 shares during the period. Cadence Bank grew its holdings in Amgen by 13.4% in the first quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 5,774 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the period. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen in the first quarter valued at approximately $18,430,000. Finally, JT Stratford LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the first quarter worth approximately $576,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $289.00 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $318.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $318.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.68 and a 52-week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. 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 prior year, the company posted $4.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price objective (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.57.

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.