Alberta Investment Management Corp Acquires 76,232 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 349.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,076 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 76,232 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Amgen were worth $25,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 118.3% during the 4th quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 0.6 %

AMGN stock opened at $292.80 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $300.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $157.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 119.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group cut their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered their target price on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

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.