Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 630,985 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 4,187 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Amgen worth $164,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Talbot Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $11,153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,274 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $513,033,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 9.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,954 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Amgen by 3.2% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $19,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872 shares during the period. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $1,105,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. This represents a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Redburn Partners lowered their target price on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $314.09.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded up $5.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $303.01. 3,260,757 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,124,757. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.78 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.56. The company's 50 day moving average price is $276.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $300.59.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. This is a boost from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen's 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.