Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 615,779 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 29,757 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $160,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America increased their target price on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.04.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $316.04 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $297.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $298.57. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.78 billion, a PE ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.