Verus Capital Partners LLC Lowers Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Verus Capital Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,908 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 107 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Amgen by 1.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,575,775 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $507,730,000 after acquiring an additional 26,805 shares during the period. Apollon Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 896 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 38,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,552,000 after purchasing an additional 5,661 shares during the last quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC now owns 13,931 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,489,000 after buying an additional 1,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $876,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price target (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.50.

Amgen Trading Down 7.1 %

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $298.84 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $323.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $318.07. The firm has a market cap of $160.64 billion, a PE ratio of 38.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 115.24%.

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.