Saratoga Research & Investment Management Sells 47 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Saratoga Research & Investment Management decreased its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,526 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 47 shares during the quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 6.2% during the 1st 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 period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 547.8% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,005,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,991,738,000 after buying an additional 5,923,915 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,564,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,890,769,000 after buying an additional 243,720 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,831,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,679,625,000 after acquiring an additional 751,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Amgen by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,701,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $844,137,000 after acquiring an additional 162,223 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $322.67 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $173.09 billion, a PE ratio of 46.10, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $249.70 and a one year high of $346.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $328.77 and a 200 day moving average of $307.76.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $360.00 to $381.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Argus increased their price objective on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $362.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.