HighVista Strategies LLC Makes New Investment in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

HighVista Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,101 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,255,000. Amgen makes up approximately 1.1% of HighVista Strategies LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 1.7 %

Amgen stock opened at $278.10 on Tuesday. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $257.80 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $311.37 and its 200-day moving average is $317.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $149.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.61, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. Amgen’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.96 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Robert W. Baird restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.05.

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.