Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires 556 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,545 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. United Community Bank bought a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Amgen from $360.00 to $381.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 price objective (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.28.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN opened at $332.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $178.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.61. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $249.70 and a 12 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $329.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $304.81.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results 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). The business 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 firm’s revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.00 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued 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 2.70%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 128.57%.

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.