Sarasin & Partners LLP Sells 286,101 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Sarasin & Partners LLP lessened its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 35.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 532,299 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 286,101 shares during the period. Amgen makes up approximately 1.5% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned about 0.10% of Amgen worth $138,738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AMGN. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.91.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $272.11 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $146.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.84, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $273.95 and its 200 day moving average is $307.20.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.96 EPS. Research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.57 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 115.24%.

Amgen Company 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.