Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,156,091 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 76,798 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.40% of Amgen worth $699,910,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 9.0% in the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $11,578,000 after purchasing an additional 2,954 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 65,564 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $21,124,000 after acquiring an additional 2,046 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 24,480 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $7,888,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 65,201 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $21,008,000 after acquiring an additional 5,748 shares during the period. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $408,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of AMGN traded down $3.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $270.62. The company had a trading volume of 2,906,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,621,149. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $302.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $314.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.55. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $257.80 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a positive change from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on AMGN shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Dbs Bank upgraded Amgen to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $319.68.

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.