Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Sells 5,245 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 69.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,350 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,245 shares during the quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 7.2% during the second quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 129,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $40,566,000 after buying an additional 8,700 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 11.0% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,758,000 after purchasing an additional 2,353 shares during the period. Cornerstone Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Amgen by 3.2% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. now owns 106,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,328,000 after purchasing an additional 3,260 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in Amgen in the second quarter worth about $3,354,000. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 2.7% in the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 82,368 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,736,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial cut shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $320.00 to $333.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.50.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $325.28 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $323.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $317.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $174.85 billion, a PE ratio of 41.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.52 and a 1 year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.96 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Amgen’s 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.