Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 1,545 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 438,803 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,545 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.08% of Amgen worth $114,370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 118.3% during the 4th quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $294.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $158.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.98, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $275.15 and its 200 day moving average is $300.77. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-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.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

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.