Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Purchased by Essex Savings Bank

Essex Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,219 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AMGN. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $362.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.50.

Amgen Price Performance

Amgen stock opened at $325.28 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.52 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $323.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $317.08. The company has a market cap of $174.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.65, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

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.