CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC Invests $2.84 Million in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 8,799 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,835,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in Amgen by 2.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in shares of Amgen by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 5,431 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,544,000 after buying an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 31,841 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,051,000 after acquiring an additional 1,353 shares during the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Amgen by 30.5% in the first quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 25.6% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 80,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $22,911,000 after acquiring an additional 16,407 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Dbs Bank raised Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $362.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.57.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN opened at $289.77 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $317.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $318.02. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $260.68 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.76 billion, a PE ratio of 37.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.