Becker Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Becker Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,732 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 999 shares during the quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Amgen were worth $23,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 1,292.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,693,042,000 after acquiring an additional 6,029,058 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,541,991,000. Capital International Investors lifted its position 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 valued at $3,182,843,000 after buying an additional 3,495,503 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $3,441,909,000 after buying an additional 2,672,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $401,913,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Amgen Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $288.56 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $301.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $292.08. The stock has a market cap of $155.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's payout ratio is 126.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $328.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $310.57.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. This trade represents 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 have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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