Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Bought by National Pension Service

National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,093,563 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 29,272 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Amgen were worth $285,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC grew its position in Amgen by 118.3% in the 4th quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, 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 quarter, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised 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. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

Amgen Stock Up 1.9 %

Amgen stock opened at $315.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $169.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.81, a PEG ratio of 2.63 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. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $278.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.16.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share 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, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

About Amgen

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.