Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 71.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,124 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 184,448 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $22,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Grassi Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter worth about $2,283,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in Amgen by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 281,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $81,161,000 after acquiring an additional 4,376 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 129,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,566,000 after purchasing an additional 8,700 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Novak & Powell Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $803,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $362.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price target (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.55.

Amgen Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $322.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $172.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.03, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $328.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $308.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.70 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.00 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS 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 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 yield of 2.79%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.