Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Increases Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 26.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,518 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 732 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Amgen were worth $917,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $1,541,991,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Amgen by 25.4% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $401,913,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Amgen by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,291,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $858,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 263.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $315.00 to $319.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.91.

Amgen Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $282.64 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $151.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $303.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.82. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business 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 $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 over the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.