Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Increases Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 611,410 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 94,524 shares during the quarter. Amgen makes up approximately 0.6% of Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned 0.11% of Amgen worth $197,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $280.07 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $313.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $317.57. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $257.80 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The firm has a market cap of $150.55 billion, a PE ratio of 35.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.52 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Wolfe Research began coverage on Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com raised Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Dbs Bank raised shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.05.

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.