Nuveen Asset Management LLC Sells 1,257,138 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 34.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,423,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,257,138 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned 0.45% of Amgen worth $631,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AMGN. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $310.23.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $270.45 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $294.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The company has a market capitalization of $145.42 billion, a PE ratio of 35.82, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.96 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

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 paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 86.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

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.