Aquatic Capital Management LLC Buys 31,000 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 184.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 47,800 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 31,000 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $12,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1,292.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,693,042,000 after acquiring an additional 6,029,058 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $1,541,991,000. Capital International Investors raised its position in Amgen by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,182,843,000 after purchasing an additional 3,495,503 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Amgen by 25.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $401,913,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $328.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial decreased 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, StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $310.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was 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. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Amgen Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded up $5.47 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $288.56. 2,147,355 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,786,646. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $301.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.11. The firm has a market cap of $155.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. 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.