Scotia Capital Inc. Decreases Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Scotia Capital Inc. reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 44,016 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 7,208 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $11,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Talbot Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares during the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its position in Amgen by 9.0% in the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,578,000 after buying an additional 2,954 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $204,659,000 after acquiring an additional 35,785 shares during the period. Finally, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd increased its holdings in Amgen by 242.2% in the 4th quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 23,999 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,255,000 after acquiring an additional 16,985 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $281.41 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $304.39 and its 200 day moving average is $295.46. The stock has a market cap of $151.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. 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 (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AMGN. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Amgen from $328.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned 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 a consensus target price of $315.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.