Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Sells 480 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. cut its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,877 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 480 shares during the quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Amgen by 83,875.6% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,541,011 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,980,571,000 after acquiring an additional 7,532,031 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $1,351,778,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Amgen by 158.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,950,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $774,791,000 after buying an additional 1,806,456 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,589,900,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,301,365 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,493,471,000 after buying an additional 1,523,665 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $264.07 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $141.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s fifty day moving average is $277.99 and its 200 day moving average is $281.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $211.71 and a 12-month high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.13 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 154.27% and a net margin of 23.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 72.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. SVB Leerink cut shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $298.38.

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.