Pensionfund Sabic Increases Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Pensionfund Sabic lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 44.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,100 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 33,125.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,437,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,446,757 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen by 6,812.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,523,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,130,610,000 after buying an additional 2,486,882 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Amgen by 561.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,539,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $496,117,000 after buying an additional 1,306,982 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 9,058.1% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 756,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $223,897,000 after acquiring an additional 748,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 40.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,338,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $609,526,000 after acquiring an additional 676,598 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN traded down $1.53 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $259.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 435,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,898,890. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $284.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $310.47. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 121.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMGN. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $318.83.

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.