Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by E Fund Management Co. Ltd.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,392 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 476 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMGN. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 520.0% during the second quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 124 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC increased its position in Amgen by 250.0% during the 2nd quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 140 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 51.1% in the 1st quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $280.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, October 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $290.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Amgen from $253.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on Amgen from $210.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $278.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $2,728,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,659,959.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Amgen Inc acquired 1,764,705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,985.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,368,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $601,267,101. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $2,728,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,659,959.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN traded down $2.59 on Tuesday, hitting $262.76. The stock had a trading volume of 763,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,467,774. The company’s 50-day moving average is $269.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $247.71. The stock has a market cap of $140.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.71. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $211.71 and a one year high of $289.54.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 31st. The medical research company reported $4.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.65 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $6.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.92 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 28.20% and a return on equity of 165.37%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.70 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 18.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 8th. Investors of record on Friday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 16th. This represents a $8.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

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.