Amgen Shares Got a Lift From Fidelity

Shares of Thousand Oaks-based Amgen Inc. got a lot of support in the fourth quarter from Fidelity Investments as the mutual fund giant boosted its stake in the world’s biggest biotech firm to 8.6% by Dec. 31 from 5.9% on Sept. 30.

A group of mutual funds owned by Fidelity held 22 million shares of Amgen, maker of anemia drug Epogen and cancer drug Neupogen, as of Dec. 31, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission released Tuesday.

That’s up from 15 million shares at the end of September, which made Boston-based Fidelity Amgen’s biggest shareholder, according to information supplied by Technimetrics Inc., which tracks holdings in public firms.

It isn’t clear when Fidelity bought in the fourth quarter, but the stock was stuck at about $80 for most of the period--until Amgen on Dec. 21 won an arbitration battle with Johnson & Johnson, giving it full rights to market an anemia drug called NESP that analysts say could become the company’s third blockbuster.

The stock jumped $12.18 to close at $100.31 on Dec. 21 on Nasdaq. It then surged to a record $130 by Jan. 29 before falling back a bit recently. On Tuesday, the stock rose $2 to close at $122.25.

Whether Fidelity has continued to hold its shares, or bought more in recent weeks, won’t be revealed until after the quarter ends.