Bridgewater Associates LP Has $369,000 Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Bridgewater Associates LP trimmed its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 58.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,415 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,957 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP's holdings in Amgen were worth $369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its holdings in Amgen by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN traded down $0.49 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $277.91. The stock had a trading volume of 2,679,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,789,034. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year 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 50 day moving average of $302.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $293.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $328.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group upped their target price on Amgen from $315.00 to $319.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Amgen in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $310.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 7,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.