Mizuho Securities USA LLC Purchases 16,103 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 46.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,946 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,103 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $13,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,441,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,672,975 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at about $401,913,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Amgen by 263.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $270,699,000 after buying an additional 753,147 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Amgen by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,338,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $609,526,000 after buying an additional 676,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Amgen by 11.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,657,183,000 after buying an additional 538,545 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Redburn Partners decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amgen Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $316.04 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $297.24 and its 200 day moving average is $299.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

About Amgen

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.