Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock Holdings Lifted by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,660 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $786,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 295.3% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,684 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 2,752 shares during the period. Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $251,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $80,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,238 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,661,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price target (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Amgen from $360.00 to $381.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $332.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.28.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $3.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $320.56. The stock had a trading volume of 2,242,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,541,291. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $326.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $302.25. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $171.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.61.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.01 by ($0.04). Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. The firm had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 128.57%.

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.