Van ECK Associates Corp Has $270.70 Million Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 263.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 753,147 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.19% of Amgen worth $270,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 33,125.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,437,115,000 after buying an additional 4,446,757 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 6,812.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,523,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,130,610,000 after buying an additional 2,486,882 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 561.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,539,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $496,117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306,982 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,338,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $609,526,000 after acquiring an additional 676,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in 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 worth $1,657,183,000 after acquiring an additional 538,545 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Down 0.5 %

AMGN stock opened at $295.06 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $272.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $302.23. The company has a market cap of $158.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 119.21%.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen 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 value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now 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. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

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.