Marshall Wace LLP Has $1.58 Million Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Marshall Wace LLP cut its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 99.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,071 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 699,040 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Up 0.8 %

AMGN stock opened at $283.09 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $152.20 billion, a PE ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $301.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $292.11. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. The trade was a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on AMGN. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $305.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $310.57.

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.