Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock Holdings Reduced by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. by 35.3%, holding 9,558 shares valued at approximately $2.98 million after selling 5,224 shares in the 1st quarter.
• Amgen's stock price has seen a decline of 5.1% recently, with a current trading price of $284.67 and a market cap of $153.07 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $2.38, representing a 3.3% yield, to be paid on September 12th.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lessened its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 35.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,558 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 5,224 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in Amgen were worth $2,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. First Pacific Financial grew its position in Amgen by 304.5% in the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 89 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC grew its position in Amgen by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 141 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $330.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price objective for the company. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $303.76.

Amgen Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $3.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $288.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,802,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,050,777. The company's 50 day moving average is $293.23 and its 200-day moving average is $292.57. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $339.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.31. The company has a market cap of $155.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.49.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.28 by $0.74. Amgen had a return on equity of 174.71% and a net margin of 18.96%. The company had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. Amgen's payout ratio is 77.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Amgen 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.