Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Position Trimmed by Congress Asset Management Co.

Congress Asset Management Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,541 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 427 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $17,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 182.0% in the 1st quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 141 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.50.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $320.16 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $324.66 and a 200-day moving average of $314.82. The company has a market capitalization of $172.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.99, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.70 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

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.