UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Grows Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 88,798 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,494 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Amgen were worth $23,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sava Infond d.o.o. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $808,000. Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in Amgen by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 372,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $97,034,000 after purchasing an additional 8,576 shares in the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management increased its position in Amgen by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 1,118 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Aviso Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 2,266 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $305.71 on Thursday. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $299.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $298.46. The company has a market cap of $164.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 over the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMGN. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Redburn Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.04.

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.