Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Reduces Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. trimmed its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 80.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,224 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,946 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Amgen by 547.8% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,005,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,991,738,000 after acquiring an additional 5,923,915 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 6.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,088,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,809,720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,045,657 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 137.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,381,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $676,984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,007 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 28,684.1% in the first quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 833,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $236,924,000 after purchasing an additional 830,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Amgen by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,831,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,679,625,000 after buying an additional 751,947 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMGN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price objective (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Amgen in a report on Friday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $405.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $362.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.55.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $322.67 on Monday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $328.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $307.76. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $249.70 and a 12 month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The business 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 company posted $5.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

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

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.