Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 11,157 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 281,567 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 11,157 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $73,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Amgen by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 538,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $173,639,000 after acquiring an additional 5,751 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth about $876,000. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth about $219,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 4.4% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,090,000 after buying an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,687 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN stock opened at $313.71 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $291.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $299.33. The company has a market capitalization of $168.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.55, 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 (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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Redburn Partners lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 in the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.