Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Increases Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lifted its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,458 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the quarter. Amgen accounts for 2.2% of Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Amgen by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,088,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,809,720,000 after acquiring an additional 3,045,657 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Amgen by 547.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,005,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,991,738,000 after acquiring an additional 5,923,915 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 33,125.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,437,115,000 after acquiring an additional 4,446,757 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Amgen by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,701,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $844,137,000 after acquiring an additional 162,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 6,812.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,523,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,130,610,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486,882 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $2.35 on Monday, reaching $319.33. 331,524 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,417,690. The company has a fifty day moving average of $325.49 and a 200-day moving average of $314.10. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $249.70 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $171.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.28, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced 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). Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. The business had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 128.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $362.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 price target (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.55.

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.