Two Sigma Advisers LP Buys 760,700 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 96.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,545,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 760,700 shares during the period. Amgen accounts for approximately 0.9% of Two Sigma Advisers LP’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned 0.29% of Amgen worth $402,845,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,721,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $13,741,409,000 after buying an additional 339,522 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen by 25.4% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,475,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,245,881,000 after buying an additional 352,143 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Amgen by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,182,843,000 after buying an additional 3,495,503 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Amgen by 1,292.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,693,042,000 after buying an additional 6,029,058 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $272.41 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.08, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $291.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $287.86.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders 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 3.49%. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 86.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AMGN. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $310.18.

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.