Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Amgen Inc. by 0.3%, owning approximately 9.83% of the company, valued at around $16.47 billion.
• Amgen reported earnings of $6.02 per share for the most recent quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.74, with a net margin of 17.39% and revenue of $9.18 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $2.38 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 3.2%.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,870,453 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 148,658 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.83% of Amgen worth $16,471,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1,292.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,693,042,000 after purchasing an additional 6,029,058 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 43,573.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,661,589 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,140,768,000 after purchasing an additional 3,653,205 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 3,495,503 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Amgen by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,431,029 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,676,183,000 after purchasing an additional 875,254 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Amgen by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,890,092 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,274,553,000 after purchasing an additional 839,686 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total transaction of $434,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN opened at $300.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $161.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.49. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $339.17. The company's 50-day moving average price is $293.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.28 by $0.74. Amgen had a net margin of 17.39% and a return on equity of 176.11%. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.97 earnings per share. Amgen's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Amgen from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Erste Group Bank downgraded Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Amgen from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.27.

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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