Umpqua Bank Boosts Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Umpqua Bank raised its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,217 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 220 shares during the quarter. Umpqua Bank’s holdings in Amgen were worth $592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Amgen by 1.1% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 538,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $173,639,000 after purchasing an additional 5,751 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 1,568.7% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,919 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in Amgen by 4.4% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 14,844 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,783,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 0.7% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 751,945 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $242,284,000 after purchasing an additional 4,999 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 41,548 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,387,000 after acquiring an additional 2,871 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was 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 owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, 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 Up 0.3 %

AMGN stock opened at $316.04 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The firm has a market cap of $169.78 billion, a PE ratio of 41.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day moving average of $297.24 and a 200 day moving average of $299.02.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

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

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.