Verity Asset Management Inc. Purchases 129 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,117 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Amgen by 0.5% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 48,780,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,792,621,000 after acquiring an additional 265,593 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Amgen by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,301,365 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,493,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,523,665 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.5% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,430,259 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,757,927,000 after purchasing an additional 54,692 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 15.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,761,437 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,601,577,000 after buying an additional 1,474,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 83,875.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,541,011 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,980,571,000 after buying an additional 7,532,031 shares during the last quarter. 74.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 9,558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.43, for a total value of $2,508,305.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,627,748.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 0.9 %

AMGN stock traded down $2.33 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $257.98. The company had a trading volume of 437,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,428,354. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.55, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.76. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $211.71 and a 52-week high of $296.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $237.17.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The medical research company reported $5.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.56. Amgen had a net margin of 30.02% and a return on equity of 196.60%. The firm had revenue of $7 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 18.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 18th were given a dividend of $2.13 per share. This represents a $8.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 17th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 57.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Amgen from $225.00 to $210.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. Argus decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, June 26th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $280.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. Credit Suisse Group decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $220.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Amgen from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $259.53.

About Amgen

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. It focuses on inflammation, oncology/hematology, bone health, cardiovascular disease, nephrology, and neuroscience areas. The company's products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Neulasta that reduces the chance of infection due a low white blood cell count in patients cancer; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; Xgeva for skeletal-related events prevention; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; and Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization.