Saxon Interests Inc. Acquires 94 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Saxon Interests Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,176 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 94 shares during the quarter. Saxon Interests Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 83,875.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 7,532,031 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $1,351,778,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Amgen by 216.1% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,690,718 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $228,997,000 after purchasing an additional 1,839,455 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Amgen by 158.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,950,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $774,791,000 after buying an additional 1,806,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 12.9% in 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 buying an additional 1,523,665 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 9,558 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.43, for a total value of $2,508,305.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,308 shares in the company, valued at $11,627,748.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Amgen stock traded up $0.82 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $263.97. The stock had a trading volume of 727,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,449,523. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $248.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $237.72. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $211.71 and a 1 year high of $296.67. The stock has a market cap of $141.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.61.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.56. Amgen had a return on equity of 196.60% and a net margin of 30.02%. The company had revenue of $7 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 18.35 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Investors of record on Friday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $2.13 per share. This represents a $8.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 17th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 57.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Amgen from $225.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 11th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Amgen from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 14th. HSBC initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $220.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $265.44.

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.