Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 7.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,205,942 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 999,662 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 2.27% of Amgen worth $3,802,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new position in Amgen in the first quarter valued at $17,479,000. Navigoe LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 34.6% in the first quarter. Navigoe LLC now owns 2,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $629,000 after buying an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc increased its holdings in Amgen by 506.0% in the first quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc now owns 606 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management increased its holdings in Amgen by 4.6% in the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,699 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the first quarter valued at $211,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN opened at $284.67 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.07 billion, a PE ratio of 23.28, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $339.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $293.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.28 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 180.66%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 77.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMGN. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $330.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $288.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total value of $434,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares in the company, valued at $2,364,368.16. The trade was a 15.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.