QRG Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

QRG Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,754 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,051 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $23,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 35,087.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 470,808 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $122,711,000 after acquiring an additional 469,470 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its holdings in Amgen by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 94,492 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $24,628,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 72,690 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $18,946,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. Apriem Advisors boosted its holdings in Amgen by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Apriem Advisors now owns 2,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 313.1% during the 4th quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,912 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,283,000 after acquiring an additional 3,723 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,222,743.34. This trade represents a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amgen Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $306.38 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $279.08 and its 200 day moving average is $300.20. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

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 the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Amgen Company 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.