Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires 311,604 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 203.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 464,512 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 311,604 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.09% of Amgen worth $121,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Amgen by 2.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,354 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $77,122,000 after buying an additional 4,942 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Amgen by 3.5% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 340,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $109,634,000 after acquiring an additional 11,348 shares during the last quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter valued at about $790,000. Finally, Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 0.9% during the third quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 10,225 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,294,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.04.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following 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 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 company insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $289.69 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $304.31 and its 200 day moving average is $296.66. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $155.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio 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.