Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lowered its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 8.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 325,093 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 31,221 shares during the period. Amgen comprises approximately 0.9% of Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Amgen worth $101,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. United Community Bank acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price objective (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.28.

Amgen Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $3.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $320.56. 2,242,451 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,541,291. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $171.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $326.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $302.12. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $249.70 and a 1 year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $8.39 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.00 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given 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 dividend yield of 2.81%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

About Amgen

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.