Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stake Decreased by Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lowered its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN – Get Rating) by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,919 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,043 shares during the quarter. Amgen accounts for 3.0% of Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $9,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coston McIsaac & Partners purchased a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Heritage Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Amgen by 420.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 130 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, Lumature Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Amgen by 51.1% in the 1st quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.53% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $259.25. 250,575 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,979,948. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $214.39 and a one year high of $296.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.17, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $273.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $257.04. The company has a market cap of $138.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.67.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 3rd. The medical research company reported $4.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 25.96% and a return on equity of 287.23%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.67 earnings per share. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 17.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 15th will be issued a $2.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 14th. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.94. This represents a $8.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 62.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 545 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.54, for a total value of $159,979.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,818,661.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. SVB Leerink lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 6th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $299.00 to $293.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $279.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.57.

Amgen Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Amgen, Inc is a biotechnology company, which engages in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of human therapeutics. Its products include the following brands: Aranesp, Aimovig, KANJINTI, EVENITY, AMGEVITA, AVSOLA, BLINCYTO, MVASI, Corlanor, Enbrel, EPOGEN, IMLYGIC, Kyprolis, Neulasta, NEUPOGEN, Nplate, Parsabiv, Prolia, Repatha, Sensipar, Vectibix, Otezla, RIABNI, and XGEVA.