First Dallas Securities Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Key Points

• First Dallas Securities Inc. cut its position in Amgen Inc. by 13.1%, now holding 6,308 shares valued at $1.97 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Amgen recently declared a quarterly dividend of $2.38 per share, representing an annualized payout of $9.52 and a dividend yield of 3.4%.
• Despite a recent downgrade from analysts, Amgen reported strong quarterly earnings, exceeding estimates with an EPS of $6.02 and revenue of $9.18 billion, up 9.4% year-over-year.

First Dallas Securities Inc. cut its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 13.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,308 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 949 shares during the quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc.'s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,965,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. First Pacific Financial boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 304.5% during the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 89 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 3,433.3% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 106 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 1,388.9% during the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 134 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Down 2.2%

Amgen stock traded down $6.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $276.39. The stock had a trading volume of 2,143,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,855,134. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.31. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $339.17. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $292.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $291.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.80 billion, a PE ratio of 22.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.49.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.97 earnings per share. The company'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, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were given 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 dividend yield of 3.4%. Amgen's payout ratio is presently 77.84%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of Amgen 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 transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Amgen from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $304.43.

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.