Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stake Boosted by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 67.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,706 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,797 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in Amgen by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 120,389 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,825,000 after acquiring an additional 17,387 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 538,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $173,639,000 after purchasing an additional 5,751 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $204,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Amgen by 46.3% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,682 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Amgen by 8.4% during the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,087 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $291.16 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $274.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $301.42. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $156.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is 119.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Redburn Partners lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596 over the last 90 days. 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.