Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,785 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $204,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $8,130,610,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486,882 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 561.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,539,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $496,117,000 after buying an additional 1,306,982 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 9,058.1% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 756,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $223,897,000 after buying an additional 748,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,657,183,000 after buying an additional 538,545 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $261.19 on Friday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $297.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $313.58. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.44, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AMGN. Redburn Partners decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. 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. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $319.68.

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.