Impax Asset Management Group plc Has $1.91 Million Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Impax Asset Management Group plc lowered its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,313 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 118.3% in the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $315.63 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $278.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.16. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.56 billion, a PE ratio of 41.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 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, equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Redburn Partners reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 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 represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.