Royal Fund Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Royal Fund Management LLC cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,464 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 669 shares during the quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,589,900,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Amgen by 486.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 899,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $258,997,000 after buying an additional 745,929 shares during the period. abrdn plc lifted its holdings in Amgen by 150.4% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,043,609 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $300,580,000 after buying an additional 626,810 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 111.9% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 989,061 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $284,869,000 after buying an additional 522,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 11.4% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,079,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,365,213,000 after acquiring an additional 518,689 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $32.90 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $311.29. 9,644,682 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,279,398. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $274.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $211.71 and a twelve month high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 145.62%. The company had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. William Blair upgraded Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $271.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.05.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Amgen 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.