OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Increases Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,166 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,705 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Amgen by 1,292.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,693,042,000 after buying an additional 6,029,058 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,541,991,000. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,182,843,000 after purchasing an additional 3,495,503 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in 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 worth $3,441,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $401,913,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $270.45 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $294.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $145.42 billion, a PE ratio of 35.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $310.23.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.