Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 1,903 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,027 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,903 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Amgen were worth $7,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMGN. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

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Amgen Stock Up 0.3 %

AMGN stock traded up $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $316.04. 9,994,350 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,553,454. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $169.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $297.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $298.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 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 given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $314.04.

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.