California Public Employees Retirement System Buys 490,539 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,716,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 490,539 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.51% of Amgen worth $782,288,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Southland Equity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 999 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Marino Stram & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 4,626 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,332,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $743,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Performance

Amgen stock traded up $2.98 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $271.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,165,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,849,916. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $211.71 and a twelve month high of $329.72. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $276.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $281.51. The firm has a market cap of $145.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.58.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.05. Amgen had a return on equity of 154.27% and a net margin of 23.83%. The business had revenue of $8.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.09 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMGN. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $329.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $296.95.

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.