Two Sigma Investments LP Raises Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 151.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 902,286 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 543,545 shares during the period. Amgen comprises 0.5% of Two Sigma Investments LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Two Sigma Investments LP owned approximately 0.17% of Amgen worth $235,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMGN. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price target for the company. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $315.00 target price (down previously from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $309.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded up $0.56 during trading on Thursday, hitting $271.90. 1,919,266 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,793,111. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $146.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.01, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $288.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $287.36.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.96 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's payout ratio is currently 86.86%.

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.