Mizuho Securities USA LLC Raises Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 88.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,092 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 36,733 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $25,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Keynote Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 0.6% during the second quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 4,898 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,421,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc raised its position in shares of Amgen by 0.5% during the second quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc now owns 6,477 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Lansing Street Advisors boosted its stake in Amgen by 1.3% in the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Down 4.2 %

AMGN stock traded down $12.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $283.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,325,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,453,793. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $320.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $318.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.31, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.52 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 announced its 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. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. Amgen's revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $305.00 target price (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Amgen to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $333.57.

About Amgen

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.