Plato Investment Management Ltd Purchases 735 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 735 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 547.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,005,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,991,738,000 after buying an additional 5,923,915 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 33,125.4% during the third 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,045,657 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $8,130,610,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 137.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,381,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $676,984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,007 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $301.44 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $162.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.52 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $322.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $318.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The business 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%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 115.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on AMGN shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $362.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 target price (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.50.

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.