Amgen Inc. $AMGN Stock: Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Trims Stake

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA decreased its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 770,033 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 102,278 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Amgen were worth $324,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 38.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,205,243 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,283,363,000 after buying an additional 11,656,755 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,831,903,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Amgen by 1,102.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,742,271 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $993,031,000 after acquiring an additional 2,514,254 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.8% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 49,362,016 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,874,974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,261,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 702.8% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,535,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $647,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,344,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 0.0%

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $460.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $422.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $378.19. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $312.39 and a 52 week high of $483.99. The company has a market capitalization of $249.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The medical research company reported $6.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.79 by $0.66. Amgen had a net margin of 24.14% and a return on equity of 114.99%. The business had revenue of $10.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.64 EPS. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 23.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be given a $2.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $10.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.57, for a total transaction of $825,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,642,098.28. The trade was a 23.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amgen News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Amgen this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Amgen reported quarterly earnings and revenue above expectations, with revenue up 8.5% year over year. Its earnings-call discussion also emphasized growth and pipeline momentum, supporting the case for continued expansion. Amgen Earnings Call Highlights Growth, Pipeline Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: A large real-world study found Repatha lowered heart-attack risk by 20% versus ezetimibe in patients with heart disease. The findings could strengthen the drug’s clinical and commercial position. Repatha real-world study
• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank reiterated a Buy view and set a $530 price target; UBS also maintains a Buy rating with a $530 target. Separately, ETFs bought a net $79.8 million of AMGN shares in Wednesday’s session. Scotiabank price target ETF holdings
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinions remain divided: Leerink Partners and Guggenheim have Hold/neutral ratings, while Scotiabank and UBS are more optimistic. The differing views suggest debate about how much of Amgen’s recent gains are already reflected in its valuation. Leerink Partners rating
• Negative Sentiment: Freedom Broker downgraded Amgen to Hold, adding to the cautious analyst commentary and potentially tempering enthusiasm after the recent rally. Freedom Broker downgrade

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $481.00 to $536.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their target price on Amgen from $470.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Amgen from $384.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their price objective on Amgen from $395.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $420.80.

About Amgen

Amgen is a biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines for serious illnesses. Its research and product portfolio span areas including cancer, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, bone health and rare diseases.

The company’s medicines include Enbrel, Prolia, Xgeva and Repatha. Amgen serves patients and healthcare providers in the United States and markets its products internationally.

Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California, Amgen is led by Robert A.