Principal Securities Inc. Purchases 1,104 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,501 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 target price (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.50.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $319.22 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.52 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $171.53 billion, a PE ratio of 40.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $324.47 and a 200-day moving average of $315.19. 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 results 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. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 181.58%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.48 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

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

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.