Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Trims Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lessened its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 20.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 484,505 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 126,905 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned 0.09% of Amgen worth $126,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,441,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $401,913,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 263.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $270,699,000 after acquiring an additional 753,147 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Amgen by 40.7% during 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 buying an additional 676,598 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Amgen by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,657,183,000 after buying an additional 538,545 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Leerink Partners cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Redburn Partners cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.95.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 2.2 %

Amgen stock opened at $324.86 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $286.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $299.48. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $174.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (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, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

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.