Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,997,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 186,940 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Amgen were worth $781,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $1,541,991,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Amgen by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,182,843,000 after purchasing an additional 3,495,503 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $401,913,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen by 52.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,291,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $858,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,884 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $315.00 to $319.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $277.29 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. 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’s 50 day moving average is $303.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.22. The company has a market capitalization of $149.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.73, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

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.