New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Sells 600 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board reduced its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,595 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $291.16 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $273.75 and a 200-day moving average of $302.14. The company has a market cap of $156.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.