APG Asset Management US Inc. Buys 3,450 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

APG Asset Management US Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 158,539 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 3,450 shares during the quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $49,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $312.86 on Thursday. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $249.70 and a 52-week high of $346.85. 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 capitalization of $168.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $329.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $306.87.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. The business had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.00 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Amgen from $360.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Argus boosted their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $321.37.

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.