Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Sells 167 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,062 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 167 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 99,178.6% in the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 308,876,983 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 48,780,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,792,621,000 after acquiring an additional 265,593 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,301,365 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,493,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523,665 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,430,259 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,757,927,000 after acquiring an additional 54,692 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,241,858 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,495,917,000 after acquiring an additional 480,421 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. HSBC assumed coverage on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $320.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Amgen from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 20th. UBS Group cut their target price on Amgen from $272.00 to $268.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. Argus raised their target price on Amgen from $280.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, October 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $278.15.

Amgen Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $271.89 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $269.18 and a 200-day moving average of $246.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.58. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $211.71 and a 52 week high of $291.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.71, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.86.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be issued 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 3.13%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Amgen Inc bought 1,764,705 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $29,999,985.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,368,653 shares in the company, valued at $601,267,101. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $7,659,959.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Amgen Inc bought 1,764,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 $601,267,101. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Company Profile

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.