Peloton Wealth Strategists Lowers Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Peloton Wealth Strategists lowered its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,143 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 280 shares during the period. Amgen accounts for approximately 2.5% of Peloton Wealth Strategists’ portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Peloton Wealth Strategists’ holdings in Amgen were worth $5,981,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 547.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,005,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,991,738,000 after purchasing an additional 5,923,915 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Amgen by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,088,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,809,720,000 after buying an additional 3,045,657 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Amgen by 137.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,381,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $676,984,000 after buying an additional 1,377,007 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 28,684.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 833,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $236,924,000 after buying an additional 830,405 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Amgen by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,831,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,679,625,000 after buying an additional 751,947 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $322.67 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $328.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $307.33. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $249.70 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 128.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on AMGN shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 price target (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. 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 research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned 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 target price of $325.55.

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.