South Dakota Investment Council Acquires 600 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

South Dakota Investment Council raised its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,843 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Amgen were worth $8,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 118.3% during the 4th quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 1.7 %

AMGN stock opened at $303.01 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $276.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $300.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 126.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.