Korea Investment CORP Reduces Position in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. by 6.8%, owning approximately 0.06% of the company after selling 25,375 shares in the first quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Alpha Family Trust and Aptus Capital Advisors LLC, have adjusted their positions in Amgen, with Alpha increasing its stake by 19.1%.
• Amgen recently announced a quarterly dividend of $2.38 per share, contributing to a 3.2% annualized yield and a payout ratio of 77.84%.

Korea Investment CORP lessened its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 346,916 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 25,375 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.06% of Amgen worth $108,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alpha Family Trust boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 19.1% during the first quarter. Alpha Family Trust now owns 4,670 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the first quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 9.1% during the first quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 47,600 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $14,830,000 after acquiring an additional 3,987 shares in the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.5% during the first quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 17,740 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,527,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviso Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.0% during the first quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 4,009 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMGN. Bank of America upped their target price on Amgen from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Erste Group Bank downgraded Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim began coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $328.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Amgen from $330.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $303.76.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the firm'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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amgen Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $296.47 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.31. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $293.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $293.10. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $339.17.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.28 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 174.71% and a net margin of 18.96%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.97 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.84%.

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.

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