Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,099 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Amgen were worth $37,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its position in Amgen by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,446,236,000 after purchasing an additional 345,537 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,122,889 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,893,771,000 after buying an additional 103,851 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Amgen by 2.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,532,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,393,718,000 after buying an additional 251,876 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 11.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,657,183,000 after buying an additional 538,545 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in Amgen by 33,125.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,437,115,000 after acquiring an additional 4,446,757 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $270.62 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $302.02 and a 200 day moving average of $314.63. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $257.80 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.65, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays upped their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $256.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $319.68.

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.