J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Increases Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 246,355 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,478 shares during the period. Amgen accounts for about 1.4% of J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Amgen were worth $76,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. First Pacific Financial grew its position in Amgen by 304.5% in the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 89 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE grew its position in Amgen by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in Amgen by 1,388.9% in the 1st quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 134 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total value of $434,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 8,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. The trade was a 15.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $296.88 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $292.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.87. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $339.17. The company has a market capitalization of $159.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.09, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a net margin of 17.39% and a return on equity of 176.11%. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 86.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on AMGN shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $328.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.27.

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.