US Bancorp DE Trims Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

US Bancorp DE trimmed its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 751,095 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 7,639 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE owned approximately 0.14% of Amgen worth $242,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 6.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,045,657 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Amgen by 547.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,005,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,991,738,000 after purchasing an additional 5,923,915 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Amgen by 33,125.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,437,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,446,757 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Amgen by 6.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,701,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $844,137,000 after purchasing an additional 162,223 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 6,812.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,523,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,130,610,000 after buying an additional 2,486,882 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Robert W. Baird restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays increased their price target on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $362.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.55.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN traded up $4.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $319.57. 507,879 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,410,440. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $249.70 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $171.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.08, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $324.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $314.78.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.57%.

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.