WCM Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 295.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,281 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,440 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price objective (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $362.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.50.

Amgen Stock Down 1.1 %

AMGN stock opened at $321.81 on Tuesday. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.52 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $323.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $317.70.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 115.24%.

Amgen Company 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.