Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock Position Lessened by Janus Henderson Group PLC

Janus Henderson Group PLC reduced its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 46.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,763,903 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,379,427 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $720,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,721,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,741,409,000 after acquiring an additional 339,522 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Amgen by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,441,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672,975 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,475,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,245,881,000 after purchasing an additional 352,143 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised 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 buying an additional 3,495,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,693,042,000 after buying an additional 6,029,058 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,222,743.34. This represents a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,707 shares of company stock valued at $12,819,342. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Stock Down 2.3 %

AMGN stock opened at $265.86 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $296.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $289.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $142.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued 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 3.58%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $315.00 target price (down from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Erste Group Bank cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $310.23.

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.