GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Acquires Shares of 121,782 Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 121,782 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,741,000. Amgen accounts for 0.7% of GF Fund Management CO. LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $3,747,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $59,904,000. Pacific Point Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $1,395,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $360,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho upped their price target on Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 18th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Amgen from $329.00 to $328.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $309.22.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $271.66 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $286.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $286.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.86%.

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.