Tredje AP fonden Buys 23,951 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Tredje AP fonden boosted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 31.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,493 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,951 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Amgen were worth $26,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 118.3% during the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was 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 directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Redburn Partners reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.04.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $312.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $167.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $289.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $299.52. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85.

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 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Amgen 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.