Raiffeisen Bank International AG Boosts Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Key Points

• Raiffeisen Bank International AG increased its holdings in Amgen Inc. by 4.3%, acquiring an additional 3,466 shares, bringing its total to 84,280 shares valued at approximately $25.87 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Capital International Investors and Capital World Investors, significantly increased their stakes in Amgen, with the former raising its holdings by 40.1%.
• Amgen recently announced a quarterly dividend of $2.38 per share, presenting an annualized yield of 3.2%, with a current dividend payout ratio of 86.86%.

Raiffeisen Bank International AG grew its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 4.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 84,280 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,466 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG's holdings in Amgen were worth $25,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Amgen by 1,292.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,693,042,000 after purchasing an additional 6,029,058 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 43,573.5% in 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 last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Amgen by 40.1% in 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 last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Amgen by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,431,029 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,676,183,000 after buying an additional 875,254 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Amgen by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,890,092 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,274,553,000 after purchasing an additional 839,686 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their target price on Amgen from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.23.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $434,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $1.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting $285.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 941,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,901,821. The firm has a market cap of $153.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $339.17. The company has a 50-day moving average of $293.18 and a 200-day moving average of $292.39.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 180.66% and a net margin of 18.96%. The company's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.97 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

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