Renaissance Technologies LLC Cuts Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lessened its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 52,245 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,955 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $16,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMGN. Keynote Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 4,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,530,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. RFP Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 219 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Hofer & Associates. Inc increased its stake in Amgen by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc now owns 6,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,024,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Blossom Wealth Management increased its stake in Amgen by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 1,023 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its stake in Amgen by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,057 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Argus lifted 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. Dbs Bank raised shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective (up from $375.00) 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 reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.28.

Amgen Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $337.38 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $180.98 billion, a PE ratio of 48.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $329.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $305.82. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $249.70 and a fifty-two week 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.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.01 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.00 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.57%.

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.