ING Groep NV Has $57.06 Million Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

ING Groep NV cut its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 25.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 218,917 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 75,504 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Amgen were worth $57,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. PrairieView Partners LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 118.3% during the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Price Performance

Amgen stock opened at $294.27 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $275.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.77. The firm has a market cap of $158.18 billion, a PE ratio of 38.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. 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 (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. As a group, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Amgen Company 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.