Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $12.06 Million Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,433 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,991 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Amgen were worth $12,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its stake in 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 during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted 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 during the period. Cornerstone Capital Inc. grew 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 valued at $34,328,000 after acquiring an additional 3,260 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at about $3,354,000. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 2,182 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $283.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $152.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.31, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $320.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $318.05. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $260.52 and a 1-year high of $346.85.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays raised their price objective on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.