Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Unigestion Holding SA

Unigestion Holding SA cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 57.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,771 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 25,013 shares during the quarter. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,892,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,541,991,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,441,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672,975 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $401,913,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,291,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $858,020,000 after buying an additional 1,135,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Amgen by 263.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $270,699,000 after buying an additional 753,147 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $294.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.15 billion, a PE ratio of 38.99, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $304.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $297.24.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, equities analysts forecast 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 paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 in the last ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.04.

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.