Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by JLB & Associates Inc.

JLB & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 67,911 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,028 shares during the quarter. Amgen accounts for approximately 2.4% of JLB & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. JLB & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $17,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,446,236,000 after buying an additional 345,537 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,122,889 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,893,771,000 after acquiring an additional 103,851 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 2.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,532,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,393,718,000 after acquiring an additional 251,876 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 11.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,657,183,000 after purchasing an additional 538,545 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 33,125.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,437,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,446,757 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Redburn Partners lowered their price objective on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

Amgen Trading Up 1.2 %

Amgen stock opened at $297.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $275.62 and its 200-day moving average is $300.75. The company has a market cap of $160.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.46, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. On average, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.