Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Grows Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. boosted its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,177 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the period. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $17,456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at $33,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.57.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $283.61 on Monday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $320.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $318.65. The company has a market cap of $152.45 billion, a PE ratio of 36.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $260.52 and a 12-month 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.96 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.17%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.