Capital Planning Advisors LLC Takes Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Capital Planning Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 721 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 1,292.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,693,042,000 after purchasing an additional 6,029,058 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Amgen by 43,573.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,661,589 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,140,768,000 after acquiring an additional 3,653,205 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,182,843,000 after acquiring an additional 3,495,503 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the first quarter worth $688,868,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,431,029 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,676,183,000 after purchasing an additional 875,254 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $288.23 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24. The company has a market capitalization of $155.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.57, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $293.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $292.81. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $339.17.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.28 by $0.74. Amgen had a return on equity of 174.71% and a net margin of 18.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.97 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMGN. Erste Group Bank lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $303.76.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total value of $434,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.