Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Lowers Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank reduced its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 20.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 484,505 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 126,905 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Amgen were worth $126,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $324.86 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $174.52 billion, a PE ratio of 43.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $286.14 and a 200-day moving average of $299.48.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report 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. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.95.

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.