Bank of New York Mellon Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,581,165 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 599,610 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,194,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,222,743.34. The trade was a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $309.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.02, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $277.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $300.20.

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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on AMGN shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Redburn Partners lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.