BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Acquires 241,219 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 42.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 816,191 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 241,219 shares during the quarter. Amgen accounts for approximately 0.7% of BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $262,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMGN. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 target price (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.57.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $287.87 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $154.74 billion, a PE ratio of 36.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $260.52 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $318.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $318.22.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 115.24%.

Amgen Company 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.