Balefire LLC Has $978,000 Stock Position in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Key Points

• Balefire LLC has reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. by 34.9%, now holding 3,501 shares valued at $978,000 after selling 1,873 shares in the last quarter.
• Amgen's stock has been rated mostly as a Hold by analysts, with the average price target set at $304.43 and recent downgrades affecting its outlook.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $2.38, which reflects an annualized yield of 3.5% and a payout ratio of 77.84%.

Balefire LLC cut its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 34.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,501 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,873 shares during the quarter. Balefire LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $1,343,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Crumly & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Amgen by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 1,146 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 861 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its stake in Amgen by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Amgen Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of AMGN traded up $9.58 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $285.41. 8,729,346 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,985,005. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week 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. The business has a 50-day moving average of $290.57 and a 200-day moving average of $290.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.49.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Amgen had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 174.71%. The company had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.97 earnings per share. Amgen's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.200-21.300 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is 77.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $328.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $304.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,209 shares in the company, valued at $2,141,000.91. This represents a 14.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.