Royal Fund Management LLC Trims Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Royal Fund Management LLC reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,569 shares during the quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 83,875.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,541,011 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,980,571,000 after purchasing an additional 7,532,031 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,351,778,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen by 216.1% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,690,718 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $228,997,000 after acquiring an additional 1,839,455 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Amgen by 158.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,950,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $774,791,000 after acquiring an additional 1,806,456 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Amgen by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,301,365 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,493,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523,665 shares during the last quarter. 74.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock opened at $263.15 on Tuesday. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $211.71 and a 1 year high of $296.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.76, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.48. The business’s 50-day moving average is $248.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $237.72.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 18th were paid a $2.13 dividend. This represents a $8.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 17th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $280.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 14th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Amgen from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 9,558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.43, for a total transaction of $2,508,305.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,627,748.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amgen Company 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.