Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $6.96 Million Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 67.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,706 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 10,797 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Amgen were worth $6,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Talbot Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 5.6% during the fourth 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 period. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $11,578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $204,659,000 after buying an additional 35,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $19,581,000 after buying an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Leerink Partners reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Redburn Partners dropped their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $314.09.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN traded up $5.08 on Friday, reaching $303.01. The stock had a trading volume of 3,260,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,124,757. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $276.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $300.59. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $162.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a positive change from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was 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 owns 36,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Company 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.