Prudential PLC Decreases Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Key Points

• Prudential PLC reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. by 32.8%, holding 27,478 shares valued at approximately $8.56 million after selling 13,438 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have recently modified their positions in Amgen, with hedge funds and other investors owning 76.50% of the stock.
• Amgen announced a quarterly dividend of $2.38 per share, representing a yield of 3.3%, payable to shareholders of record on August 22nd.

Prudential PLC lowered its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 32.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,478 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 13,438 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $8,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMGN. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First Pacific Financial increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 304.5% in the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 89 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. South Plains Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1,388.9% in the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 134 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the subject of several recent research reports. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $303.76.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Amgen Stock Up 2.1%

NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $6.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $296.47. The company had a trading volume of 2,167,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,128,585. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.49. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $293.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $292.96. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $339.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24.

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. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 174.71% and a net margin of 18.96%. Amgen's revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.97 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

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 issued 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 3.2%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.84%.

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.