Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Purchased by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 25.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 336,055 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,990 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Amgen were worth $87,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 49,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,988,000 after acquiring an additional 8,393 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,077,000. FWL Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 4,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Amgen by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,213,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $837,508,000 after purchasing an additional 8,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 12,392 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,230,000 after buying an additional 3,659 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on AMGN shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $310.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,707 shares of company stock worth $12,819,342. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $265.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $142.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $296.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.86. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. The company 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%. Amgen’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.96 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 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.