Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. cut its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 171,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 15,004 shares during the quarter. Amgen makes up about 1.8% of Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $55,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keynote Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the second quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 4,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,421,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC increased its position in Amgen by 17.1% during the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 219 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.5% in the second quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc now owns 6,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the third quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AMGN. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.50.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN opened at $325.50 on Wednesday. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.52 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $324.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $316.64. The company has a market cap of $174.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share 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 168.35%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.