Empowered Funds LLC Trims Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Empowered Funds LLC cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,697 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 846 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $20,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 7.2% in the second quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 129,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $40,566,000 after acquiring an additional 8,700 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 11.0% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,758,000 after buying an additional 2,353 shares during the period. Cornerstone Capital Inc. raised its stake in Amgen by 3.2% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. now owns 106,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,328,000 after buying an additional 3,260 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,354,000. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 2.7% during the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 82,368 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,736,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Down 3.3 %

AMGN opened at $286.17 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $260.52 and a one year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $322.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $318.15.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

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 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Friday. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $362.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.57.

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.