Fmr LLC Cuts Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Fmr LLC lessened its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,686,212 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 561,092 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $960,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Amgen by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,721,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $13,741,409,000 after purchasing an additional 339,522 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 25.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,475,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,245,881,000 after acquiring an additional 352,143 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,541,991,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,135,884 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 $18,222,743.34. This represents a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % 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 ninety days. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.04.

Amgen Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $289.69 on Tuesday. 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 has a market cap of $155.62 billion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average of $304.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $296.66. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) 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 predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS 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 issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

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.