Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Has $1.23 Million Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 921 shares during the quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,088,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,809,720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,045,657 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Amgen by 547.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,005,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,991,738,000 after acquiring an additional 5,923,915 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Amgen by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,701,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $844,137,000 after acquiring an additional 162,223 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 137.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,381,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $676,984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Amgen by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,237,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $635,179,000 after acquiring an additional 481,214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $0.91 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $315.83. 336,019 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,433,139. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $249.70 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The business’s fifty day moving average is $326.00 and its 200-day moving average is $312.76.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released 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 net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.00 EPS. As a group, 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $362.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.55.

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.