State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $55.92 Million Stock Position in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D has reduced its holdings in Amgen Inc. by 9.0%, owning 179,477 shares worth approximately $55.9 million after selling 17,799 shares.
• Institutional ownership of Amgen is high, with 76.50% of shares held by institutional investors and hedge funds, indicating significant confidence in the company's stock.
• Analyst ratings for Amgen vary, with consensus reflecting a "Hold" rating and a target price of $303.76, following recent adjustments from various research analysts.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 179,477 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 17,799 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Amgen were worth $55,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 1,292.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,693,042,000 after buying an additional 6,029,058 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 43,573.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,661,589 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,140,768,000 after buying an additional 3,653,205 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,182,843,000 after buying an additional 3,495,503 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the first quarter valued at $688,868,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 15.8% in 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 in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 8,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Amgen from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Erste Group Bank cut Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $303.76.

Amgen Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $3.85 during trading on Monday, hitting $292.62. 1,743,817 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,138,618. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week 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. The company has a market cap of $157.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $293.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $293.15.

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, 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 business had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.97 EPS. Amgen's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

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