Empirical Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Empirical Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,884 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 42 shares during the quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Grassi Investment Management bought a new position in Amgen in the 1st quarter valued at $2,283,000. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its position in Amgen by 7.2% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in Amgen by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 17,378 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,960,000 after buying an additional 2,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Amgen by 37.4% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,642 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,310,000 after buying an additional 3,168 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock traded down $2.79 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $325.56. 179,845 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,455,239. The company has a market cap of $174.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average is $326.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $310.92. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $249.70 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 128.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMGN. TD Cowen increased their price target on Amgen from $360.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial cut Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $320.00 to $333.00 in a research note on Monday. Barclays increased their price target on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 target price (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $362.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $326.95.

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.