Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Bought by APG Asset Management N.V.

APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 226.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 658,497 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 456,514 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. owned approximately 0.12% of Amgen worth $165,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $1,541,991,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $3,441,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,672,975 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $401,913,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Amgen by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,291,975 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $858,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised 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 purchasing an additional 753,147 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $315.22.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN traded up $4.57 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $285.98. 3,466,932 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,777,164. The stock has a market cap of $153.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $304.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $295.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

About Amgen

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.