Amgen Inc. $AMGN Shares Sold by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. by 2.5% during Q2, owning 240,295 shares valued at approximately $67.1 million.
• Several hedge funds increased their positions in Amgen, with significant purchases including Nuveen LLC's new position worth $688.9 million and Federated Hermes raising their stake by 48.5%.
• Amgen reported a 9.4% year-over-year increase in revenue with earnings per share of $6.02, surpassing expectations, while the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $2.38 per share.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG decreased its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 240,295 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 6,060 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises about 1.2% of J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Amgen were worth $67,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 1st quarter worth $688,868,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of Amgen by 48.5% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,037,169 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $634,680,000 after buying an additional 665,555 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Amgen by 128.9% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,065,694 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $332,017,000 after buying an additional 600,096 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth $156,812,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Amgen by 1,505.3% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 518,604 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $144,799,000 after buying an additional 486,299 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 7,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,141,000.91. The trade was 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 at the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $261.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Amgen from $330.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $309.70.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $298.50 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $287.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $288.64. The company has a market cap of $160.70 billion, a PE ratio of 24.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.49. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $335.88.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 yield of 3.2%. Amgen's payout ratio is presently 77.84%.

About Amgen

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AMGN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.