Marshall Wace LLP Sells 699,040 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Marshall Wace LLP reduced its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 99.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,071 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 699,040 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in Amgen were worth $1,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at about $1,588,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth about $806,000. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,281,000. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,083 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,571,000 after acquiring an additional 3,616 shares during the period. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $408,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $310.39.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock traded down $2.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $281.22. 4,537,023 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,796,623. The company has a market capitalization of $151.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $300.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $291.79. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company's stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 over the last ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.