California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,201,234 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 17,001 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.41% of Amgen worth $573,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America increased their price target on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.04.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $306.95 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $301.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $298.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $164.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given 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 yield of 3.10%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.