Amgen Inc. $AMGN Shares Sold by Kestra Advisory Services LLC

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services LLC reduced its Amgen shares by 2.5%, ending the first quarter with 88,257 shares valued at approximately $27.5 million.
• Amgen's recent earnings report showed a notable 9.4% revenue increase year-over-year, with EPS of $6.02 surpassing estimates by $0.74.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $2.38 per share, reflecting a 3.2% annual yield, with a payout ratio of 77.84%.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC lowered its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 88,257 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 2,263 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $27,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 5,154 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,343,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $759,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 861 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockline Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $328.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Erste Group Bank lowered Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. 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 report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $303.76.

Amgen Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $293.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $158.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.49. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $293.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $293.27. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $339.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 174.71% and a net margin of 18.96%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.97 EPS. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.200-21.300 EPS. Analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. Amgen's payout ratio is presently 77.84%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total transaction of $434,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. The trade was a 15.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.99, for a total transaction of $376,286.33. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,141,000.91. The trade was a 14.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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