Heritage Investors Management Corp Increases Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Heritage Investors Management Corp grew its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 59,130 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings in Amgen were worth $15,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 263.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $270,699,000 after buying an additional 753,147 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position 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 worth $609,526,000 after acquiring an additional 676,598 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 11.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 538,545 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.2% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 573.3% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 355,872 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $114,666,000 after purchasing an additional 303,016 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Redburn Partners lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Leerink Partners cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock opened at $306.38 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $279.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $300.20. The firm has a market cap of $164.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.58, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

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.