Metis Global Partners LLC Sells 1,155 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Metis Global Partners LLC reduced its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,240 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,155 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN traded up $32.90 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $311.29. 9,644,682 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,279,398. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $274.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.46. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $211.71 and a 12-month high of $329.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.65. The company has a market cap of $166.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 145.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.98 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 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 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $271.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Leerink Partnrs cut Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Amgen from $284.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a 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 $305.05.

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.