The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Reduces Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 465,598 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 27,512 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.09% of Amgen worth $121,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE grew its holdings in Amgen by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $2.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $281.22. 4,537,023 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,795,100. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $300.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $291.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.20 billion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.96 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $2.38 dividend. 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 presently 126.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AMGN. 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $310.22.

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.