New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 55,508.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,983 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $1,541,991,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position 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 worth $3,441,909,000 after buying an additional 2,672,975 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $401,913,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 753,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 40.7% in the fourth 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America raised their target price on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

Amgen Trading Up 0.4 %

AMGN stock opened at $306.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $164.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.66, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $301.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $298.38.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

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 issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.