Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 51,796 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 81 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $13,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $306.95 on Monday. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $164.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.66, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The company has a 50-day moving average of $301.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $297.94.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted 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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. As a group, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

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.