Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 1,135,884 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 52.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,291,975 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,135,884 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.61% of Amgen worth $858,020,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business'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 transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $314.04.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN traded down $1.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $305.70. The stock had a trading volume of 1,909,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,707,039. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $302.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $297.63. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The firm has a market cap of $164.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

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.