Schechter Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,292 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 927 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $1,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Amgen by 263.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $270,699,000 after acquiring an additional 753,147 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 40.7% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Amgen by 11.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,657,183,000 after buying an additional 538,545 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 35,087.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 470,808 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $122,711,000 after buying an additional 469,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Amgen by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $9,446,236,000 after buying an additional 345,537 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have recently commented on AMGN. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $314.09.
Read Our Latest Analysis on AMGN
Amgen Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded up $1.41 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $312.19. The stock had a trading volume of 3,819,193 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,546,395. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $281.80 and a 200-day moving average of $299.73. The firm has a market cap of $167.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.35, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85.
Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.
Amgen Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company's 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 in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Amgen Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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