New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $121.33 Million Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 465,499 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 26,316 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.09% of Amgen worth $121,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $314.09.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $1.64 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $292.80. 2,161,695 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,156,590. The company has a market capitalization of $157.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $274.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $301.10.

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, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This is a positive change from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596. Company 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.