Amgen Inc. $AMGN Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp decreased its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 471,381 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 157,935 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Amgen were worth $133,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Amgen by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,711,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,996,807,000 after purchasing an additional 841,117 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Amgen by 0.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,357,026 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,196,775,000 after purchasing an additional 177,035 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,018,617 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,619,489,000 after purchasing an additional 291,271 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 5.6% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,893,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,600,043,000 after purchasing an additional 687,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 27,765.8% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,700,621 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,870,880,000 after buying an additional 6,676,575 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $351.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $189.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $261.43 and a 12 month high of $353.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $332.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $308.43.

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

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $10.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.38. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.24, for a total transaction of $299,253.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,381,251.68. This represents a 11.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 3,139 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.26, for a total transaction of $1,058,659.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,436,703.50. This represents a 30.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 10,908 shares of company stock valued at $3,674,966 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on AMGN. Argus raised their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $342.00 to $381.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $339.71.

About Amgen

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.