E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Sells 334 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,651 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 334 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMGN. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth about $26,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Up 1.8 %

Amgen stock traded up $5.55 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $312.86. The stock had a trading volume of 2,920,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,909,855. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $276.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.92. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $211.71 and a 12-month high of $329.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 156.21% and a net margin of 12.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.98 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised shares of Amgen from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $230.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Amgen from $284.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Leerink Partnrs lowered Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. SVB Leerink downgraded shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Amgen from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total value of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.