Norges Bank Invests $1.54 Billion in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Norges Bank bought a new position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,916,171 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $1,541,991,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.10% of Amgen at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 in the last quarter. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America raised their target price on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $314.04.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $2.80 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $309.75. 1,219,382 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,695,375. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The stock has a market cap of $166.40 billion, a PE ratio of 41.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The business's fifty day moving average is $301.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $297.94. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. 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.