Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Cuts Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 30.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 618,990 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 271,270 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.12% of Amgen worth $161,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Amgen by 6.6% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 854 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $150,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Amgen by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 23,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,587,000 after buying an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,521 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,745,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Amgen by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 452,590 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $145,800,000 after buying an additional 4,901 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $306.95 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $301.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $298.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.66, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America raised their target price on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.04.

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.