Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Altus Wealth Group LLC

Altus Wealth Group LLC decreased its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 44.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,847 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,470 shares during the quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Keynote Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the second quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 4,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. RFP Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 17.1% in the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 219 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Hofer & Associates. Inc increased its holdings in Amgen by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc now owns 6,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Blossom Wealth Management increased its holdings in Amgen by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 1,023 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its holdings in Amgen by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,057 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $324.36 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $326.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $301.86. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $248.38 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The stock has a market cap of $174.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.34, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 128.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $332.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price target (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.89.

Amgen 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.