Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 5,916,171 Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Norges Bank bought a new position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,916,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,541,991,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.10% of Amgen at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of AMGN opened at $305.71 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $164.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $299.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $298.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. On average, analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Redburn Partners dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.04.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.