Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 939 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 76,046 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 939 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $23,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 182.0% in the 1st quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 141 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Amgen in a research note on Friday, September 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $405.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.55.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $319.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $171.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $327.28 and its 200-day moving average is $308.96. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $249.70 and a one year 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.

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). The firm had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.00 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.