New York State Common Retirement Fund Lowers Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 670,995 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 92,822 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.13% of Amgen worth $216,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Amgen by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 51,429 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,622,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 313,781 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $89,214,000 after purchasing an additional 21,824 shares in the last quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Amgen by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,107 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $599,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,646 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,311,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Down 0.2 %

Amgen stock traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $319.48. 109,851 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,409,992. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $260.52 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $324.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $314.82. The company has a market cap of $171.67 billion, a PE ratio of 40.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.61.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 181.58%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 115.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AMGN. 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $362.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.50.

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.