Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Trims Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 489,085 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 136,220 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.09% of Amgen worth $157,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter valued at $7,633,000. Patten & Patten Inc. TN increased its position in shares of Amgen by 4.6% during the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 3,104 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $883,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 218.0% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 12,434 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,535,000 after buying an additional 8,524 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 44.3% in the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,400 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trustmark National Bank Trust Department boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 6.5% in the first quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 31,204 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $8,872,000 after acquiring an additional 1,909 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMGN. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Amgen from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $335.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $333.57.

Amgen Stock Down 4.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $283.61 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $260.52 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $320.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $318.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.96 EPS. Amgen's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

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

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