Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock Holdings Lowered by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. lowered its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 24.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 617,525 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 195,571 shares during the period. Amgen comprises 0.9% of Candriam S.C.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $160,952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Redburn Partners cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.95.

Amgen Stock Up 1.4 %

AMGN opened at $316.57 on Thursday. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $283.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $299.78. The company has a market capitalization of $170.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.