Exchange Capital Management Inc. Increases Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Exchange Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,925 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 345,537 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Amgen by 0.9% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 103,851 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,532,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,393,718,000 after purchasing an additional 251,876 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position 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. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 6.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,442,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,431,432,000 after buying an additional 264,396 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 in the last quarter. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMGN. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed 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, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Amgen Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $309.72 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $277.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.20. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 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 0.95.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. On average, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th 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 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.