Counterweight Ventures LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Counterweight Ventures LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,409 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 79 shares during the quarter. Amgen makes up about 1.7% of Counterweight Ventures LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Counterweight Ventures LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN stock opened at $276.40 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.57 billion, a PE ratio of 35.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $319.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $318.65. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $260.52 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 115.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays upped 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 reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $362.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Amgen in a report on Friday. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.57.

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.