Metis Global Partners LLC Reduces Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Metis Global Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,712 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 43 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 285.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 394,489 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $102,820,000 after purchasing an additional 292,137 shares during the period. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,026 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,747,000. Tower Bridge Advisors boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 13,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,513,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Finally, Fortress Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $758,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMGN. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Redburn Partners decreased their price objective on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $308.06 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $165.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.80, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $280.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $300.16. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $7,341,190.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.