Clearbridge Investments LLC Lowers Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,567 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 820 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $19,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Talbot Financial LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $11,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares in the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $11,578,000 after buying an additional 2,954 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased 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. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,352,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its holdings in Amgen by 242.2% in the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 23,999 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,255,000 after acquiring an additional 16,985 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMGN. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $314.04.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN traded down $4.70 during trading on Monday, hitting $289.69. 4,921,884 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,735,108. 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 market capitalization of $155.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.37, a PEG 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $304.31 and a 200-day moving average of $296.66.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

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 $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % 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. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company 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.