Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Purchases 7,308 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 277,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,308 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned 0.05% of Amgen worth $86,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Pacific Financial raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 304.5% during the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 89 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1,388.9% during the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 134 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of AMGN opened at $296.88 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $339.17. The firm has a market cap of $159.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $292.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.17.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $288.00 price target on the stock. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.27.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other Amgen 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 8,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,364,368.16. The trade was a 15.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.