Vident Advisory LLC Raises Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 173.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,331 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,250 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lifted its position in Amgen by 242.2% during the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 23,999 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,255,000 after purchasing an additional 16,985 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 285.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 394,489 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $102,820,000 after purchasing an additional 292,137 shares during the last quarter. Aire Advisors LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 13,280 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,531,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $329.00 to $328.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $310.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at $18,222,743.34. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amgen Stock Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $275.85 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $290.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $287.56. The company has a market capitalization of $148.33 billion, a PE ratio of 36.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. The company’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 86.86%.

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.