Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by LGT Group Foundation

LGT Group Foundation reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,979 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,442 shares during the quarter. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $4,589,900,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Amgen by 486.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 899,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $258,997,000 after purchasing an additional 745,929 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its holdings in Amgen by 150.4% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,043,609 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $300,580,000 after purchasing an additional 626,810 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Amgen by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,079,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,365,213,000 after purchasing an additional 518,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,716,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $782,288,000 after buying an additional 490,539 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $311.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $166.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $211.71 and a twelve month high of $329.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $274.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $281.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 145.62%. The firm had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.98 EPS. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $332.00 to $328.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.