Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by LJI Wealth Management LLC

LJI Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 843 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 58 shares during the period. LJI Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter valued at $7,633,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Amgen by 18.9% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 35,673 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,143,000 after acquiring an additional 5,668 shares during the period. Alera Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the first quarter worth about $227,000. Patten & Patten Inc. TN raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 3,104 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $883,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 218.0% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 12,434 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,535,000 after purchasing an additional 8,524 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Down 4.2 %

NASDAQ AMGN traded down $12.32 on Friday, hitting $283.61. 5,325,131 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,453,793. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $320.85 and a 200 day moving average of $318.05. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $260.52 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $152.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.96 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $2.25 dividend. 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 3.17%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $362.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.57.

Amgen Company 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.