Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 824,291 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 107,374 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.15% of Amgen worth $214,843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Amgen by 1.1% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 538,899 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $173,639,000 after acquiring an additional 5,751 shares during the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 23.4% during the third quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 52,096 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $16,786,000 after acquiring an additional 9,871 shares during the last quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Amgen by 10.5% during the third quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. now owns 1,000 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Amgen by 0.8% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 5,429 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC grew its position in Amgen by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 4,228 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,362,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $314.95.

Amgen Trading Up 1.4 %

AMGN traded up $4.38 on Wednesday, reaching $316.57. 2,628,966 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,544,250. The company's 50 day moving average is $283.80 and its 200-day moving average is $299.78. The company has a market cap of $170.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.93, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors 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 yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the 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 owns 36,922 shares of the company's stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.