Amgen Inc. $AMGN Position Lessened by Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A.

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. reduced its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 8.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 248,243 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 21,790 shares during the period. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $104,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 38.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,205,243 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,283,363,000 after purchasing an additional 11,656,755 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,831,903,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 1,102.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,742,271 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $993,031,000 after purchasing an additional 2,514,254 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Amgen by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 49,362,016 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,874,974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,261,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Amgen by 702.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,535,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $647,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,344,010 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Down 0.2%

Amgen stock opened at $467.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $312.39 and a 1-year high of $483.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $424.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $380.60. The company has a market capitalization of $252.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.43.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The medical research company reported $6.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.79 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $10.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.07 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 24.14% and a return on equity of 114.99%. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 23.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be given a $2.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $10.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 58.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on AMGN. HSBC lowered shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $445.00 to $425.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $303.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $359.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $345.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $452.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $424.66.

Latest Amgen News

These are some of the AMGN news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Dazodalibep met the primary endpoint in the 648-patient OASIZ-301 trial, with both dosing regimens showing statistically significant improvement in systemic disease activity. Amgen also reported meaningful improvement in patient-reported symptoms. Sjögren’s currently has no approved treatments, giving the results potential commercial significance if confirmed and approved. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies analysts said, with caveats about cross-trial comparisons, dazodalibep appears more effective than Novartis’ competing investigational drug ianalumab. That could strengthen Amgen’s competitive position, though it is not a direct head-to-head comparison. Clinical Trials Arena article
• Negative Sentiment: A reported consensus price target of $422.76 is below the share price cited in the coverage, which may temper enthusiasm about near-term upside. American Banking News article

Amgen Company Profile

Amgen is a biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines for serious illnesses. Its research and product portfolio span areas including cancer, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, bone health and rare diseases. The company’s medicines include Enbrel, Prolia, Xgeva and Repatha. Amgen serves patients and healthcare providers in the United States and markets its products internationally. Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California, Amgen is led by Robert A. Bradway, who has served as its chief executive officer since 2012.