Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock Position Lowered by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 21.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,259 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,974 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Amgen in the third quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at $18,222,743.34. This trade represents a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $306.38 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $164.59 billion, a PE ratio of 40.58, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $279.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $300.20.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 126.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMGN. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

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.