Dearborn Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Dearborn Partners LLC increased its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,578 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keynote Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the second quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 4,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,421,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.5% in the second quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc now owns 6,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Lansing Street Advisors increased its holdings in Amgen by 1.3% in the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN opened at $295.93 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $260.52 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $322.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $318.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.57.

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.