ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 50,105 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

ProShare Advisors LLC cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 7.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 661,578 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 50,105 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $206,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. United Community Bank bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 182.0% during the first quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 141 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMGN. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price target (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $360.00 to $381.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.28.

Amgen Stock Up 0.4 %

Amgen stock opened at $337.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.98 billion, a PE ratio of 48.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.61. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $249.70 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $329.57 and a 200-day moving average of $305.82.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

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

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.