South Dakota Investment Council Sells 20,140 Shares of Amgen Inc. $AMGN

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 65.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,703 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 20,140 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,988,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in Amgen by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 146,197 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,820,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth $551,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 63,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,824,000 after buying an additional 2,821 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 11,370 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,175,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 1,354 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of AMGN opened at $296.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.23, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $287.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $287.63. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $335.88.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.28 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 174.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.97 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $330.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Amgen from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $261.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $300.94.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.99, for a total value of $376,286.33. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,141,000.91. This trade represents a 14.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Profile

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. The company's principal products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; XGEVA for skeletal-related events prevention; Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization; Nplate for the treatment of patients with immune thrombocytopenia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; EVENITY for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal for men and women; Vectibix to treat patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer; BLINCYTO for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; TEPEZZA to treat thyroid eye disease; and KRYSTEXXA for the treatment of chronic refractory gout.