180,316 Shares in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Purchased by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 180,316 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,998,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Redburn Partners dropped their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two 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.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

Amgen Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $316.04 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $297.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $299.02. The company has a market cap of $169.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. The trade was a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.