Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. Amgen accounts for about 0.4% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Amgen were worth $22,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price objective (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $362.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.55.

Amgen Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $316.98 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $249.70 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The firm has a market cap of $170.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $325.49 and its 200-day moving average is $313.47.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 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.