Meeder Asset Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,443 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,835 shares during the period. Amgen comprises about 1.2% of Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $17,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Belmont Capital LLC raised its position in Amgen by 88.0% during the third quarter. Belmont Capital LLC now owns 1,139 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in Amgen by 6.6% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 16,424 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its position in Amgen by 1.7% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 98,605 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares during the period. Joseph Group Capital Management raised its position in Amgen by 15.7% during the third quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 8,633 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169 shares during the period. Finally, Semus Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Amgen by 2.3% during the third quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMGN. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays upped their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com raised Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 target price (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.57.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock opened at $278.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $319.90 and a 200-day moving average of $318.65. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $260.52 and a 12-month high of $346.85. 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 company has a market cap of $149.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.69, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly 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. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

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.