Norges Bank Makes New $1.54 Billion Investment in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,916,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,541,991,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,721,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,741,409,000 after buying an additional 339,522 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Amgen by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,446,236,000 after buying an additional 345,537 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,441,909,000 after buying an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,122,889 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,893,771,000 after buying an additional 103,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,657,183,000 after acquiring an additional 538,545 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $305.71 on Thursday. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $299.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $298.46. The company has a market cap of $164.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.49, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Redburn Partners lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.04.

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.