Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Sells 121,340 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. trimmed its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 99.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,263 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 121,340 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s holdings in Amgen were worth $329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors raised 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 buying an additional 6,029,058 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,541,991,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,495,503 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $401,913,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMGN. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company 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 Saturday. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $315.00 target price (down previously from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $310.23.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN traded down $8.17 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $262.28. 3,927,755 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,786,150. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $294.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.08.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Amgen's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.96 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. Amgen's payout ratio is 86.86%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.