Holderness Investments Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Holderness Investments Co. boosted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 8.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,070 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the quarter. Holderness Investments Co.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the first quarter worth $28,000. United Community Bank bought a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the second quarter worth about $33,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.28.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $337.38 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $329.57 and a 200 day moving average of $305.82. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.70 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $180.98 billion, a PE ratio of 48.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.01 by ($0.04). Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. The company had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.57%.

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.