Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 761,095 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Voya Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 63.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 442,203 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 761,095 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.08% of Amgen worth $115,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Amgen by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,721,795 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $13,741,409,000 after purchasing an additional 339,522 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $3,441,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,672,975 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 352,143 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Amgen by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,182,843,000 after acquiring an additional 3,495,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Amgen by 1,292.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,693,042,000 after purchasing an additional 6,029,058 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Amgen from $315.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Amgen from $328.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $310.57.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock traded down $0.50 on Wednesday, hitting $288.06. 646,394 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,778,267. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.88 billion, a PE ratio of 38.15, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $301.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $292.08.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company's stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.