WCM Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 182.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,544 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 13,263 shares during the quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Amgen by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,446,236,000 after purchasing an additional 345,537 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,122,889 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,893,771,000 after purchasing an additional 103,851 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,532,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,393,718,000 after buying an additional 251,876 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 11.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,657,183,000 after buying an additional 538,545 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 33,125.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,437,115,000 after buying an additional 4,446,757 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on AMGN. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $313.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $293.54 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $272.26 and a 200-day moving average of $303.00. The stock has a market cap of $157.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. As a group, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.21%.

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.