Fusion Capital LLC Boosts Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Fusion Capital LLC grew its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the period. Amgen comprises approximately 2.5% of Fusion Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Fusion Capital LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Amgen by 263.8% during 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 buying an additional 753,147 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Amgen by 40.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,338,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $609,526,000 after acquiring an additional 676,598 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 538,545 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $122,711,000 after acquiring an additional 469,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,446,236,000 after purchasing an additional 345,537 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AMGN. 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. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Redburn Partners lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $305.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $164.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.51, a PEG 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $279.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $300.24. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

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

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.