B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Has $11.99 Million Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,004 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,663 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Amgen were worth $11,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,541,991,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,441,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,672,975 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $401,913,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 263.8% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $270,699,000 after acquiring an additional 753,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Amgen by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,338,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $609,526,000 after acquiring an additional 676,598 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.04.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock opened at $306.95 on Monday. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.90 billion, a PE ratio of 40.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50-day moving average is $301.08 and its 200-day moving average is $297.94. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.09%.

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.