Virtu Financial LLC Takes Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,929 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $1,588,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMGN. Redburn Partners decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Amgen in a research note 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 report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $319.68.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded down $3.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $270.62. 2,906,253 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,621,149. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $257.80 and a one year high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $303.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $314.87.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.96 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

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