Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Purchases 1,998 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 301,816 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,998 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Amgen were worth $78,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,441,909,000 after buying an additional 2,672,975 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $401,913,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in 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 valued at $270,699,000 after purchasing an additional 753,147 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Amgen by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,338,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $609,526,000 after purchasing an additional 676,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,657,183,000 after purchasing an additional 538,545 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $312.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $167.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company’s fifty day moving average is $289.70 and its 200 day moving average is $299.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.04.

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.