Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Acquired by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,564 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 2,046 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Amgen were worth $21,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in Amgen by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $9,446,236,000 after acquiring an additional 345,537 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,122,889 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,893,771,000 after purchasing an additional 103,851 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Amgen by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,532,629 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,393,718,000 after purchasing an additional 251,876 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Amgen by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,657,183,000 after purchasing an additional 538,545 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 33,125.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,437,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,446,757 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AMGN. UBS Group reduced their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Amgen to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $319.68.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded down $2.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $271.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,907,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,616,490. The firm has a market cap of $145.75 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $303.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $314.87. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.80 and a twelve month high of $346.85.

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

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This is a boost from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. 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.