Clearbridge Investments LLC Grows Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 103,117 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,552 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $29,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 2,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 104 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Amgen by 56.9% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 113 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMGN. SVB Leerink lowered shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Raymond James initiated coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Mizuho increased their price target on Amgen from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Amgen from $284.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.65.

Amgen Stock Down 0.9 %

AMGN opened at $306.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $284.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $285.28. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $211.71 and a 12 month high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 156.21% and a net margin of 12.74%. The company’s revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

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.