Banco Santander S.A. Decreases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Banco Santander S.A. decreased its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 24,628 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $19,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in Amgen by 2.7% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 49,931 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,311 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,758,000 after acquiring an additional 2,353 shares during the period. Cadence Bank increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 13.4% in the first quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 5,774 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the period. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen in the first quarter worth about $18,430,000. Finally, JT Stratford LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the first quarter valued at approximately $576,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $285.11 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $260.68 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $318.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $318.22. The firm has a market cap of $153.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its 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 firm 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 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Truist Financial lowered Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $320.00 to $333.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Dbs Bank upgraded Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.57.

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.