South Dakota Investment Council Cuts Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,494 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 5,661 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in Amgen were worth $11,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Southland Equity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 999 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 4,626 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $743,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $329.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Amgen from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $296.95.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN stock traded up $1.63 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $273.54. 2,493,074 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,845,341. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $276.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $211.71 and a twelve month high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.66 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.13 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 154.27%. Amgen's quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Amgen's payout ratio is 72.06%.

Amgen 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.

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