Saturna Capital Corp Trims Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Saturna Capital Corp cut its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 136,657 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,440 shares during the quarter. Saturna Capital Corp’s holdings in Amgen were worth $35,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMGN. State Street Corp lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 345,537 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,441,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,672,975 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,122,889 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,893,771,000 after acquiring an additional 103,851 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 11.7% in the third 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. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 264,396 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen 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 approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 over the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

Amgen stock opened at $318.89 on Wednesday. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week 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 stock has a market cap of $171.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $288.66 and a 200-day moving average of $299.43.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 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%. On average, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMGN. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Redburn Partners dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.04.

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.