Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 158,734 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,729 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $51,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $1,437,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,446,757 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 6,812.4% during 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 buying an additional 2,486,882 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Amgen by 561.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,539,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $496,117,000 after buying an additional 1,306,982 shares in the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 9,058.1% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 756,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $223,897,000 after buying an additional 748,200 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the first quarter worth $151,977,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded down $13.99 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $280.01. 17,010,332 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,139,351. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $314.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $317.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The stock has a market cap of $150.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.85, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $257.80 and a 1 year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.96 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 115.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMGN. Bank of America lifted their target price on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Dbs Bank raised shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen boosted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.57.

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.