Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Buys 303,016 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 573.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 355,872 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 303,016 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned approximately 0.07% of Amgen worth $114,666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 129,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $40,566,000 after buying an additional 8,700 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Amgen by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,581,000 after buying an additional 1,872 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Amgen by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $513,033,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Napa Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,104,000. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 40.1% during the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 7,552 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $280.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $314.64 and a 200 day moving average of $317.84. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $257.80 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The firm has a market cap of $150.51 billion, a PE ratio of 35.85, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.