Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 25,692 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 208,167 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 25,692 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $54,257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 25.4% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 2,672,975 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $401,913,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Amgen by 263.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $270,699,000 after buying an additional 753,147 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,338,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $609,526,000 after buying an additional 676,598 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,657,183,000 after buying an additional 538,545 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock opened at $324.86 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $286.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.48. The stock has a market cap of $174.52 billion, a PE ratio of 43.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced 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 net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. On average, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.95.

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.