New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $175.43 Million Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 673,079 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,084 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Amgen were worth $175,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. PrairieView Partners LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 118.3% in the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $292.80 on Wednesday. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $274.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $300.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The company has a market capitalization of $157.39 billion, a PE ratio of 38.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced 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%. Research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 119.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMGN. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

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.