Amgen Inc. $AMGN Shares Bought by Verity & Verity LLC

Verity & Verity LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 100,518 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,438 shares during the period. Amgen makes up approximately 2.3% of Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $28,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its holdings in Amgen by 296.2% during the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 18,004 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,027,000 after purchasing an additional 13,460 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 165.0% during the second quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 10,643 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,972,000 after purchasing an additional 6,627 shares in the last quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 50.8% in the 2nd quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 9,837 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after buying an additional 3,314 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in shares of Amgen by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 95,731 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,729,000 after buying an additional 11,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 154,418 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $43,115,000 after buying an additional 4,306 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AMGN. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Amgen in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $318.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $335.35.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $327.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.05 and a twelve month high of $346.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $326.08 and a 200-day moving average of $302.79.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $5.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $9.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.98 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 19.47% and a return on equity of 162.59%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.58 earnings per share. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.600-21.400 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $2.52 dividend. This represents a $10.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.38. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 73.57%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 6,879 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.83, for a total transaction of $2,317,053.57. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 41,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,120,924.09. This represents a 14.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 890 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.24, for a total value of $299,253.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,381,251.68. This trade represents a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,908 shares of company stock valued at $3,674,966. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amgen Company Profile

Amgen Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN) is a global biotechnology company founded in 1980 and headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. The company focuses on discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering human therapeutics that address serious illnesses. Amgen’s work centers on biologic medicines derived from cellular and molecular biology, with an emphasis on translating advances in human genetics and protein science into therapies for patients.

Amgen’s commercial portfolio has historically included biologics used in oncology, supportive care, nephrology, bone health and cardiovascular disease.