Erste Asset Management GmbH Sells 1,866 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Erste Asset Management GmbH trimmed its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 93,125 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,866 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Amgen were worth $24,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 118.3% in the 4th quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 over the last ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.04.

Amgen Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $312.50 on Thursday. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $289.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $299.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

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.