Capital International Investors Acquires 3,495,503 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 40.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,495,503 shares during the period. Capital International Investors owned about 2.27% of Amgen worth $3,182,843,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,588,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $806,000. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,281,000. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 48.4% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,083 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,571,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $408,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMGN. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $315.00 to $319.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $310.57.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $277.91. The stock had a trading volume of 872,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,782,180. 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 company has a market capitalization of $149.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. The company's 50-day moving average price is $302.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $293.45. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. The trade was 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 worth $20,644,335. Corporate 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.