Czech National Bank Boosts Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,548 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 7,089 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Amgen were worth $30,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Amgen by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,446,236,000 after purchasing an additional 345,537 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,122,889 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,893,771,000 after acquiring an additional 103,851 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,532,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,393,718,000 after purchasing an additional 251,876 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 11.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,657,183,000 after purchasing an additional 538,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 33,125.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,437,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,446,757 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $262.23 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $279.10 and a 200 day moving average of $308.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.58, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMGN. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Amgen from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Redburn Partners decreased their price objective on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.