Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 89.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 54,176 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,541 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $14,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMGN. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter worth $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 118.3% during the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $312.64 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $290.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $299.61. The stock has a market cap of $167.95 billion, a PE ratio of 41.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Redburn Partners dropped their target price on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.04.

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.