Howard Capital Management Group LLC Sells 75 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Howard Capital Management Group LLC trimmed its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,369 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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 report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Amgen in a research report on Friday, September 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $405.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Amgen in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 target price (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $329.48.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN stock opened at $321.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $172.37 billion, a PE ratio of 45.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 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. The business has a 50 day moving average of $326.08 and a 200-day moving average of $311.63. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $249.70 and a 12-month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.01 by ($0.04). Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The business had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 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.