Vista Investment Partners LLC Purchases New Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Vista Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 674 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $32,880,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $79,000. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Amgen by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 2,567 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen by 101.5% in the 4th quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 1,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ raised its holdings in Amgen by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 3,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded down $1.69 during trading on Friday, reaching $321.44. 1,442,483 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,616,239. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $319.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $299.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.43 billion, a PE ratio of 45.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.58. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $248.38 and a 52-week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 156.21%. The business’s revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.00 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 price objective (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays raised shares of Amgen from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $360.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $332.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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 report on Thursday, July 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.89.

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.