Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Sarasin & Partners LLP

Sarasin & Partners LLP trimmed its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 35.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 532,299 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 286,101 shares during the period. Amgen comprises 1.5% of Sarasin & Partners LLP's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned approximately 0.10% of Amgen worth $138,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 33,125.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,437,115,000 after acquiring an additional 4,446,757 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 6,812.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,523,387 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $8,130,610,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486,882 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Amgen by 561.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,539,733 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $496,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,982 shares in the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 9,058.1% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 756,460 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $223,897,000 after purchasing an additional 748,200 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Amgen by 40.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 676,598 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $2.68 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $272.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,244,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,140,853. The stock has a market cap of $146.27 billion, a PE ratio of 34.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 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 50 day moving average of $273.95 and a 200 day moving average of $307.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 boost from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen's payout ratio is currently 121.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $314.91.

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.