Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 5,700 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund cut its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 139,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,700 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Amgen were worth $36,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,446,236,000 after acquiring an additional 345,537 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,122,889 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,893,771,000 after acquiring an additional 103,851 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,532,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,393,718,000 after acquiring an additional 251,876 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 11.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,657,183,000 after acquiring an additional 538,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 33,125.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,437,115,000 after acquiring an additional 4,446,757 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $303.01 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $162.78 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $276.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $300.40.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. On average, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented 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. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Corporate insiders own 0.69% 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.