Burney Co. Reduces Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Burney Co. reduced its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 18.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,494 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,475 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in Amgen by 99,178.6% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 309,188,418 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $68,646,013,000 after purchasing an additional 308,876,983 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Amgen by 83,875.6% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 7,532,031 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $1,351,778,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 worth $228,997,000 after buying an additional 1,839,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $774,791,000 after buying an additional 1,806,456 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, November 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Amgen from $253.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, October 20th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 11th. Two 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $278.15.

Amgen Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of AMGN opened at $270.02 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.71. The firm has a market cap of $144.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $268.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.75. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $211.71 and a 12 month high of $291.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The medical research company reported $4.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.65 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $6.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.92 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 28.20% and a return on equity of 165.37%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.70 EPS. Analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 18.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 16th. This represents a $8.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, major shareholder Amgen Inc purchased 1,764,705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $29,999,985.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 35,368,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $601,267,101. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Amgen news, major shareholder Amgen Inc purchased 1,764,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $29,999,985.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 35,368,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $601,267,101. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.