National Bank of Canada FI Lowers Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI reduced its holdings in Amgen Inc. by 61.4%, now owning 205,847 shares valued at approximately $64.10 million.
• Several large institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Capital International Investors, have increased their stakes in Amgen, with institutional investors owning 76.5% of the company's stock.
• The stock has seen diverse analyst attention, with price targets ranging from $261 to $328, and an overall average rating of "Hold."

National Bank of Canada FI trimmed its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 61.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 205,847 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 327,097 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI's holdings in Amgen were worth $64,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 87.1% in the 1st quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council bought a new position in Amgen in the first quarter valued at about $1,331,000. DLK Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 7.3% during the first quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 20,491 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,384,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 914,380 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $238,316,000 after acquiring an additional 19,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 24.8% in the first quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 21,382 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,662,000 after acquiring an additional 4,252 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 8,162 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN stock traded down $3.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $285.09. The company had a trading volume of 1,854,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,059,949. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $339.17. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $293.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $292.81. The firm has a market cap of $153.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 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.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMGN. Bank of America raised their price objective 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 cut Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $303.76.

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.