Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Position Trimmed by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lessened its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,138 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 2,302 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's holdings in Amgen were worth $18,802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $310.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Amgen stock traded down $2.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $281.22. 4,537,023 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,795,101. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a market cap of $151.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $299.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $291.49.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. The business 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%. The business's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.96 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

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.