Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 1,732 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 338,525 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,732 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $88,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Blossom Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 1,090 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Amgen by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,364 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 911 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,650 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were 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 owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $305.77 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $300.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $298.51. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $164.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. 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 (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 net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

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.