Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 25.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,583,245 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,204,225 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.67% of Amgen worth $933,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,541,991,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,441,909,000 after buying an additional 2,672,975 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $401,913,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Amgen by 52.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,291,975 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $858,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Amgen by 263.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $270,699,000 after acquiring an additional 753,147 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were 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 approximately $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $315.22.
View Our Latest Research Report on Amgen
Amgen Price Performance
Amgen stock traded up $4.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $285.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,466,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,777,164. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.76 billion, a PE ratio of 37.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $304.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $295.27.
Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.
Amgen Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.
Amgen Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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