Erste Asset Management GmbH Sells 1,866 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Erste Asset Management GmbH lessened its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,125 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,866 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Amgen were worth $24,452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Talbot Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,274 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $513,033,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $204,659,000 after acquiring an additional 35,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on AMGN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America upped their price target on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

Amgen Stock Performance

Amgen stock opened at $312.50 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The company has a market capitalization of $167.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.39, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $289.70 and its 200 day moving average is $299.52. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 0.69% 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.