State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System Sells 6,890 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 596,041 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,890 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System owned about 0.11% of Amgen worth $144,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Sweeney & Michel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the first quarter worth approximately $1,156,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the first quarter worth about $4,827,000. Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 17.6% in the first quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,388 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 32.7% during the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 19,176 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,636,000 after purchasing an additional 4,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,117,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Amgen from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 14th. Argus decreased their price objective on Amgen from $270.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, June 26th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, September 5th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $225.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $264.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In related news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 9,558 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.43, for a total value of $2,508,305.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,627,748.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $257.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.76, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.77. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $211.71 and a 52-week high of $296.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $245.86 and a 200 day moving average of $237.17.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The medical research company reported $5.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.56. Amgen had a return on equity of 196.60% and a net margin of 30.02%. The firm had revenue of $7 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.65 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 18.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Investors of record on Friday, August 18th were given a dividend of $2.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 17th. This represents a $8.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 57.45%.

Amgen Profile

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. It focuses on inflammation, oncology/hematology, bone health, cardiovascular disease, nephrology, and neuroscience areas. The company's products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Neulasta that reduces the chance of infection due a low white blood cell count in patients cancer; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; Xgeva for skeletal-related events prevention; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; and Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization.