AQR Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

AQR Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 62.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,076 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 75,667 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $11,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AMGN. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $310.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at $18,222,743.34. The trade was a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,707 shares of company stock valued at $12,819,342. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Amgen Trading Down 2.3 %

AMGN traded down $6.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $265.86. 3,326,938 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,766,730. The stock's 50-day moving average is $297.00 and its 200 day moving average is $290.23. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.94 billion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.96 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current 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. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.86%.

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.