Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co decreased its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,194 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 3,837 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co's holdings in Amgen were worth $6,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,205,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Blossom Wealth Management increased its position in Amgen by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 1,090 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,364 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 911 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,650 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 67,752 shares of company stock worth $20,160,532. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $4.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $274.47. 625,755 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,753,516. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The company has a market cap of $147.57 billion, a PE ratio of 36.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $298.42 and a 200 day moving average of $290.64.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid 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 3.47%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is currently 86.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 price target for the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $315.00 price target (down from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $310.23.

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.