Amgen Inc. $AMGN Shares Bought by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,027 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 3,869 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Amgen were worth $13,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 49,362,016 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,874,974,000 after acquiring an additional 2,261,544 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 38.2% in 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 period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 12.7% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,390,910 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,952,156,000 after purchasing an additional 605,928 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at about $1,831,903,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in Amgen by 15.2% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,890,189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,408,715,000 after purchasing an additional 512,883 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $430.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Amgen from $359.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Amgen from $378.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Freedom Broker cut Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $450.00 to $470.00 in a research note on Friday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $422.76.

Amgen Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $468.11 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $253.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $424.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $380.01. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $312.39 and a 12 month high of $483.99.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The medical research company reported $6.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.79 by $0.66. Amgen had a net margin of 24.14% and a return on equity of 114.99%. The business had revenue of $10.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 23.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $2.52 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.47%.

Amgen News Roundup

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 producing statistically significant reductions in systemic disease activity versus placebo over 48 weeks. Amgen also reported clinically meaningful improvements in patient-reported symptoms, potentially positioning the drug in a disease area with no approved treatments. Reuters article
• Neutral Sentiment: The positive data may improve dazodalibep’s commercial prospects, but it remains investigational; further development and regulatory review are needed before it can generate sales. Amgen announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the encouraging results, some coverage reported that Amgen shares slipped, indicating investors may be taking a cautious or “sell-the-news” approach rather than immediately pricing in the drug’s longer-term potential. MSN 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.