MML Investors Services LLC Grows Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 7.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 192,413 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 13,555 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $61,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $272.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $306.58 and its 200-day moving average is $315.82. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $257.80 and a one 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) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.96 EPS. Amgen’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Redburn Partners reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.05.

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.