Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC

Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,537 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 19,385 shares during the quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $12,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AMGN. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 547.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,005,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,991,738,000 after buying an additional 5,923,915 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 6.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,088,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,809,720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,045,657 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 137.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,381,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $676,984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,007 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 28,684.1% during the first quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 833,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $236,924,000 after purchasing an additional 830,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 9,058.1% during the second quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 756,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $223,897,000 after purchasing an additional 748,200 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AMGN. Argus boosted their price target on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Amgen in a report on Friday, September 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $405.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Dbs Bank upgraded Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Amgen from $360.00 to $381.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $326.95.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN opened at $325.09 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $325.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $311.49. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $249.70 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The firm has a market cap of $174.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.44, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

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.