Palisade Asset Management LLC Has $22 Million Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Palisade Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,377 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Amgen comprises 2.4% of Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $21,998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $4,589,900,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 486.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 899,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $258,997,000 after purchasing an additional 745,929 shares during the period. abrdn plc grew its stake in Amgen by 150.4% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,043,609 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $300,580,000 after purchasing an additional 626,810 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 111.9% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 989,061 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $284,869,000 after purchasing an additional 522,367 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,079,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,365,213,000 after buying an additional 518,689 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total value of $662,811.53. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amgen Stock Up 1.9 %

AMGN stock traded up $5.81 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $306.11. 1,782,376 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,896,412. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $275.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.74. The company has a market cap of $164.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $211.71 and a 1-year high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 156.21%. The company had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.98 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 128.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. William Blair upgraded shares of Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, SVB Leerink downgraded shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.05.

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.