Amgen Inc. $AMGN Shares Sold by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. by 13%, now holding 118,529 shares worth approximately $36.7 million.
• In recent broker updates, Amgen received a mix of ratings, with Piper Sandler upgrading its target price from $328 to $342, while Wall Street Zen downgraded it from "buy" to "hold."
• Amgen announced a quarterly dividend of $2.38 per share, translating to an annual yield of 3.4%, with a dividend payout ratio of 77.84%.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 13.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 118,529 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 17,760 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $36,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,624,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the first quarter worth $535,000. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 50.5% in the first quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares during the last quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 26.5% in the first quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP now owns 7,396 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 93.5% in the first quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 42,020 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $13,091,000 after purchasing an additional 20,309 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AMGN. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Amgen from $328.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen cut Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $304.43.

Amgen Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of AMGN opened at $283.64 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $293.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.49. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $339.17.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is 77.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.99, for a total value of $376,286.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,209 shares in the company, valued at $2,141,000.91. This trade represents a 14.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amgen 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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