Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Cuts Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 58.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 642,049 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 897,684 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.12% of Amgen worth $167,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 21.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 20,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,390,000 after acquiring an additional 3,555 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in Amgen by 28.5% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 14,218 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,442,000 after purchasing an additional 3,156 shares in the last quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the second quarter worth $3,855,000. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen during the second quarter worth $207,000. Finally, Alpha Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the second quarter valued at $244,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Down 1.1 %

AMGN opened at $267.10 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $143.58 billion, a PE ratio of 34.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $277.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $308.03.

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

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. 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 3.56%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMGN. UBS Group cut their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Redburn Partners lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.91.

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.