Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 4,358 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 440,348 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,358 shares during the period. Amgen accounts for 0.6% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Amgen were worth $141,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMGN. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 price target (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $362.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Argus raised their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. One 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.55.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded up $2.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $319.66. 1,467,846 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,495,004. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.70 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $327.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $309.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.48 billion, a PE ratio of 45.67, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.00 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.57%.

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.