Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Takes Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 23,353 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,297,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AMGN. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,880,000. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 1,089.5% in the fourth quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. now owns 108,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,348,000 after buying an additional 99,688 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its holdings in Amgen by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 1,366 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Amgen by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 12,262 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. boosted its holdings in Amgen by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 2,424 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded up $2.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $333.83. The company had a trading volume of 2,173,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,554,402. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $248.38 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $179.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.69, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $324.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $300.43.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.01 by ($0.04). Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 156.21%. The business had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Argus increased their price target on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Mizuho increased their target price on Amgen from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.89.

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.