Evernest Financial Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Evernest Financial Advisors LLC cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,564 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 154 shares during the quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $801,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Biltmore Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 26.2% in the 2nd quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 2,891 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $903,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its position in Amgen by 63.2% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 148,984 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,550,000 after buying an additional 57,707 shares during the last quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 27.4% during the second quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. now owns 18,097 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,654,000 after acquiring an additional 3,893 shares during the last quarter. GEM Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the second quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.4% during the second quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 12,696 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,967,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 0.9 %

AMGN stock opened at $328.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $176.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.26. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $326.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $302.95. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $249.70 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.01 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast 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 paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 128.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Amgen from $332.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Argus lifted their price target on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.28.

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.