Shell Asset Management Co. Sells 3,701 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Shell Asset Management Co. cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 29.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,875 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 3,701 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,721,795 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $13,741,409,000 after purchasing an additional 339,522 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Amgen by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,441,909,000 after buying an additional 2,672,975 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,475,032 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,245,881,000 after buying an additional 352,143 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,182,843,000 after buying an additional 3,495,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 1,292.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,693,042,000 after buying an additional 6,029,058 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $309.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $0.84 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $275.01. The company had a trading volume of 2,184,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,793,191. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $290.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $287.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced 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. 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 company's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.96 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. Amgen's payout ratio is 86.86%.

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.