Encompass More Asset Management Raises Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Encompass More Asset Management increased its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 13.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,342 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Encompass More Asset Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Old Port Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 4.3% in the first quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 1,162 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth $1,026,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,107 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,471,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Davis Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Capital Management now owns 5,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,801,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 109.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,290 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,590,000 after acquiring an additional 4,338 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMGN. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $323.05.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $282.87 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $311.37 and its 200 day moving average is $317.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The firm has a market cap of $152.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.22, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $257.80 and a 52-week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.96 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Amgen 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.