Vident Advisory LLC Buys 12,250 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 173.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,331 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,250 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AMGN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,721,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $13,741,409,000 after purchasing an additional 339,522 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,441,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,475,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,245,881,000 after purchasing an additional 352,143 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,182,843,000 after purchasing an additional 3,495,503 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 1,292.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,693,042,000 after purchasing an additional 6,029,058 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $329.00 to $328.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $310.18.

Amgen Stock Up 1.3%

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $275.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $148.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $290.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $287.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Amgen’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.86%.

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.