Carret Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Carret Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,179 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 33 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 7.2% during the second quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 129,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,566,000 after acquiring an additional 8,700 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services grew its stake in Amgen by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 38,067 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,823,000 after purchasing an additional 6,116 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,758,000 after purchasing an additional 2,353 shares during the period. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 1st quarter worth about $4,772,000. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,354,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $316.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $170.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $249.70 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $325.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $313.77.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.01 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 target price (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $362.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.55.

Amgen Company 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.