Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $43.49 Million in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 166,691 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,494,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Amgen in the third quarter worth $150,000. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc lifted its position in Amgen by 144.0% during the 3rd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 1,747 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Amgen by 9.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 784,900 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $252,903,000 after acquiring an additional 68,000 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Amgen by 2.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,354 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $77,122,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 38.0% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 93,668 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,181,000 after purchasing an additional 25,806 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMGN. StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $294.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $304.18 and its 200 day moving average is $297.49. The company has a market capitalization of $158.15 billion, a PE ratio of 38.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (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 predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.09%.

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.