Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Sells 3,422 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 15.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,443 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 3,422 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $5,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,721,795 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $13,741,409,000 after buying an additional 339,522 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,672,975 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,475,032 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,245,881,000 after acquiring an additional 352,143 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,182,843,000 after acquiring an additional 3,495,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1,292.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,693,042,000 after purchasing an additional 6,029,058 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMGN. Piper Sandler Companies restated an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America raised their price target on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $310.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded up $1.94 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $279.84. 2,259,859 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,789,386. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $301.75 and a 200 day moving average of $293.08.

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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.