Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 26,571 Shares of Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Amgen Inc. by 7.9%, now owning approximately 0.06% of the company worth $96.3 million after selling 26,571 shares.
• Amgen recently announced a quarterly dividend of $2.38, with an annual yield of 3.3% and a payout ratio of 77.84%.
• Despite recent analyst downgrades, Amgen has a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $304.43.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 309,198 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 26,571 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Amgen worth $96,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. KPP Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 87.1% in the 1st quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716 shares during the period. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in Amgen in the first quarter worth $1,331,000. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.9% in the first quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 16,132 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,026,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the period. DLK Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 20,491 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $6,384,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Founders Financial Alliance LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Amgen from $328.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $330.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $304.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total transaction of $434,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. This represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.99, for a total value of $376,286.33. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,141,000.91. This represents a 14.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ AMGN traded down $0.79 on Tuesday, reaching $286.92. 1,946,968 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,799,158. The stock has a market cap of $154.47 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.49. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $339.17. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $293.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $292.85. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.86 billion. During the same quarter 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. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. Amgen's payout ratio is presently 77.84%.

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.