Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC cut its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 40.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,916 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 27,860 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $10,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Talbot Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,153,000 after buying an additional 2,274 shares during the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC boosted its position in 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 worth $11,578,000 after purchasing an additional 2,954 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $204,659,000 after purchasing an additional 35,785 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 242.2% in the 4th 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 period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at $18,222,743.34. This trade represents a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.04.

Amgen Stock Performance

Amgen stock opened at $294.39 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $304.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $297.49. The stock has a market cap of $158.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

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.