Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,910 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 985 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $13,826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price target (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Argus increased their price objective on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.30.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $328.35 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $326.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $310.55. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $249.70 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.43 billion, a PE ratio of 56.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. The business had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 154.91%.

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.