LSV Asset Management Cuts Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Key Points

• LSV Asset Management has reduced its holdings in Amgen Inc. by 24.9%, owning 108,800 shares worth approximately $33.9 million.
• Institutional investors currently hold 76.50% of Amgen's stock, with significant purchases made by firms like Capital World Investors and GAMMA Investing.
• Amgen recently declared a $2.38 quarterly dividend, yielding 3.2%, with a payout ratio of 86.86%.

LSV Asset Management cut its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 24.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 108,800 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 36,000 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management's holdings in Amgen were worth $33,897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Amgen by 1,292.0% in the fourth 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. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 43,573.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,661,589 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,140,768,000 after acquiring an additional 3,653,205 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Amgen by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,182,843,000 after acquiring an additional 3,495,503 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,431,029 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,676,183,000 after buying an additional 875,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,890,092 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,274,553,000 after buying an additional 839,686 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Up 0.0%

AMGN stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $284.70. 2,588,846 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,913,274. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.17. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $339.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.09 billion, a PE ratio of 23.28, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $293.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $292.39.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $5.28 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 180.66%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total value of $434,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares in the company, valued at $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 18th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.23.

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.