Granite Group Advisors LLC Acquires 168 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Granite Group Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the quarter. Amgen accounts for about 1.4% of Granite Group Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Granite Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 5.3% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 64,427 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $18,318,000 after buying an additional 3,246 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd bought a new stake in Amgen in the first quarter valued at approximately $612,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in Amgen by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 7,498 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,860 shares during the period. Nelson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC now owns 18,654 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,304,000 after purchasing an additional 2,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 28,684.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 833,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $236,924,000 after purchasing an additional 830,405 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Amgen stock traded up $2.13 on Friday, hitting $324.04. The company had a trading volume of 119,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,401,752. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.52 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $323.96 and a 200-day moving average of $316.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 115.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price objective (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Dbs Bank upgraded Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued 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. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.50.

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.