Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Sells 645 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,875 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 645 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMGN. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.04.

Amgen Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $306.86 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The company has a market cap of $164.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $298.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $298.41.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 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.