Vista Investment Partners LLC Acquires 1,380 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Vista Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 204.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 129,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $40,566,000 after purchasing an additional 8,700 shares in the last quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 20.1% during the first quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 17,378 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,960,000 after buying an additional 2,914 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 37.4% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,642 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,310,000 after buying an additional 3,168 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 38,067 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,823,000 after acquiring an additional 6,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 11.0% during the 1st 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. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $321.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $326.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $311.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $249.70 and a 1-year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by ($0.04). Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. The firm had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $320.00 to $333.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, September 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $405.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $329.48.

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.