Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Acquires Shares of 2,647 Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,647 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $694,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Amgen by 263.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $270,699,000 after purchasing an additional 753,147 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Amgen by 40.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 676,598 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,657,183,000 after purchasing an additional 538,545 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Amgen by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,446,236,000 after purchasing an additional 345,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in shares of Amgen by 573.3% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 355,872 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $114,666,000 after purchasing an additional 303,016 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 2.2 %

AMGN stock opened at $309.72 on Tuesday. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month 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. The stock has a market cap of $166.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.02, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $277.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $300.20.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’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. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

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.