Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 5.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 292,724 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,092 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.05% of Amgen worth $94,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Down 4.2 %

NASDAQ AMGN traded down $12.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $283.61. The stock had a trading volume of 5,325,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,323,978. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.52 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $152.45 billion, a PE ratio of 36.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $320.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $318.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.96 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Amgen from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Amgen in a report on Friday. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and issued a $305.00 price target (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $333.57.

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.