Emerald Advisers LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Emerald Advisers LLC lessened its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 89.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 258 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 2,205 shares during the quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $67,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 worth $3,441,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $401,913,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Amgen by 263.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $270,699,000 after purchasing an additional 753,147 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 40.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,338,665 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $609,526,000 after buying an additional 676,598 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,657,183,000 after buying an additional 538,545 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

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Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN traded up $0.98 on Thursday, hitting $306.69. 615,279 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,537,821. The firm has a market cap of $164.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $299.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $298.46. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business 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 $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.09%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

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 directly owns 28,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Redburn Partners lowered their price objective on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $314.04.

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.