Certuity LLC Buys 786 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Certuity LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 49.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,372 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 786 shares during the period. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Balboa Wealth Partners bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $254,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Amgen by 8.2% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 120,005 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $32,253,000 after buying an additional 9,106 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the third quarter worth approximately $215,000. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter worth $243,000. Finally, Crescent Sterling Ltd. boosted its position in Amgen by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 9,451 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,540,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AMGN. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. SVB Leerink downgraded shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.40.

Amgen Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $273.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.93, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $274.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.37. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $211.71 and a 1-year high of $329.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.66 by $0.05. Amgen had a return on equity of 154.27% and a net margin of 23.83%. The business had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.09 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.43 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 72.06%.

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.