Windward Capital Management Co. CA Purchases 556 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Windward Capital Management Co. CA grew its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,239 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 556 shares during the period. Windward Capital Management Co. CA’s holdings in Amgen were worth $7,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its holdings in Amgen by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 129,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,566,000 after buying an additional 8,700 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 11.0% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,758,000 after acquiring an additional 2,353 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,260 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the second quarter worth about $3,354,000. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 2.7% during 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 in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.50.

Amgen Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $325.28 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $260.52 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.65, a PEG ratio of 2.79 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $323.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $317.08.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.96 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.