Ameriflex Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Key Points

• Ameriflex Group Inc. significantly reduced its holdings in Amgen Inc. by 95% during Q2, leaving it with only 395 shares valued at $110,000.
• Vanguard Group Inc. and others increased their stakes in Amgen during the same period, indicating ongoing institutional interest in the company.
• Amgen reported strong financial results, with an EPS of $6.02 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 9.4%.

Ameriflex Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 95.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 395 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 7,450 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc.'s holdings in Amgen were worth $110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Amgen by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,870,453 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $16,471,790,000 after purchasing an additional 148,658 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Amgen by 6.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,883,134 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,521,339,000 after purchasing an additional 274,488 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Amgen by 5.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,454,164 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,387,695,000 after purchasing an additional 243,306 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Amgen by 1.6% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,266,009 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,017,525,000 after purchasing an additional 52,734 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Amgen by 0.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,020,545 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $940,989,000 after purchasing an additional 22,820 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $297.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $335.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $287.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $288.17. The stock has a market cap of $160.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.49.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.28 by $0.74. Amgen had a return on equity of 174.71% and a net margin of 18.96%.The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.86 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.200-21.300 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.99, for a total transaction of $376,286.33. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,141,000.91. This trade represents a 14.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMGN. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Amgen from $330.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Amgen from $328.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $309.70.

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.

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