Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Sells 2,578 Shares of Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. by 28.8%, selling 2,578 shares to end up with 6,364 shares worth approximately $1,777,000.
• Amgen has seen significant interest from institutional investors, with 76.50% of its stock owned by such entities and notable stakes acquired by companies like Nuveen LLC and Federated Hermes Inc.
• Analysts' consensus rating for Amgen is currently "Hold" with a price target of $305.50, aiming to reflect growth forecasts and recent positive earnings reports.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 28.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,364 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 2,578 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $1,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 1st quarter worth approximately $688,868,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Amgen by 48.5% during the first 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 last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Amgen by 128.9% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,065,694 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $332,017,000 after buying an additional 600,096 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp boosted its position in Amgen by 8,223.6% during the second quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 595,634 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $166,307,000 after acquiring an additional 588,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the second quarter valued at $156,812,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings raised Amgen from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group cut their price target on Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Amgen from $330.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $305.50.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $295.81 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $159.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.19, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $286.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $287.33. 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 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $335.88.

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. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 174.71%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.97 earnings per share. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.200-21.300 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other Amgen 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,141,000.91. The trade was a 14.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

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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