Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Sells 11,850 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 25,093 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 11,850 shares during the quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $8,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Down 4.2 %

AMGN stock opened at $283.61 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.52 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The firm has a market cap of $152.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.31, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $320.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $318.36.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 115.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price objective (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.57.

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.