Prio Wealth Limited Partnership Sells 1,299 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Prio Wealth Limited Partnership reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 25,525 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,299 shares during the quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership’s holdings in Amgen were worth $7,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 6.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,088,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,809,720,000 after acquiring an additional 3,045,657 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Amgen by 547.8% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,005,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,991,738,000 after buying an additional 5,923,915 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Amgen by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,564,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,890,769,000 after acquiring an additional 243,720 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Amgen by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,831,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,679,625,000 after acquiring an additional 751,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Amgen by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,701,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $844,137,000 after acquiring an additional 162,223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of AMGN opened at $320.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $171.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.76, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.70 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $328.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $308.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 128.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Argus increased their price target on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Amgen in a research note on Friday, September 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $405.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.55.

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.