Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Has $6.92 Million Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. decreased its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,161 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 78 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grassi Investment Management bought a new position in Amgen during the 1st quarter valued at $2,283,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in Amgen by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 281,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $81,161,000 after purchasing an additional 4,376 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its stake in Amgen by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 129,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $40,566,000 after buying an additional 8,700 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,388,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Novak & Powell Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $803,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $337.38 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $329.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $305.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $249.70 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $180.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.20, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America raised their target price on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 price target (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.28.

Amgen 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.