Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Purchased by TCW Group Inc.

TCW Group Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 25.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 174,891 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,040 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $50,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,652 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares during the period. FineMark National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Amgen by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 46,299 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $13,335,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 347,003 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $99,944,000 after acquiring an additional 30,082 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Amgen by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 120,997 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,850,000 after acquiring an additional 992 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,369 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN traded down $2.91 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $306.50. 2,139,152 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,835,856. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $283.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $285.13. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $211.71 and a 12-month high of $329.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 156.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMGN. SVB Leerink downgraded shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $324.00 to $318.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $284.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $332.00 to $328.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.65.

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.