Simmons Bank Has $7.44 Million Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Simmons Bank raised its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,081 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Amgen were worth $7,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

Amgen stock opened at $298.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $160.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $322.74 and its 200 day moving average is $318.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $260.52 and a one year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.96 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.50.

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.