Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates cut its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,079,536 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 74,674 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Amgen were worth $306,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,658 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,133,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in Amgen by 76.8% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 37,695 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,857,000 after purchasing an additional 16,376 shares in the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 4.4% in the third quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Platform Technology Partners boosted its holdings in Amgen by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 5,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Traynor Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Amgen by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,941 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on AMGN. UBS Group reduced their price target on Amgen from $314.00 to $284.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $296.95.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $269.98. 2,436,959 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,035,139. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $275.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $281.45. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $211.71 and a fifty-two week high of $329.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $8.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.13 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 154.27%. Amgen’s revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 72.06%.

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.