Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Cuts Stake in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Key Points

• Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC sold 1,965 shares of Amgen Inc., decreasing its holdings by 10.1%, leaving them with 17,478 shares valued at approximately $5.45 million.
• Other institutional investors have been active, with First Pacific Financial increasing its stake by 304.5% and multiple investors purchasing new stakes, contributing to a total institutional ownership of 76.50%.
• Amgen's quarterly earnings surpassed forecasts, reporting $6.02 earnings per share and $9.18 billion in revenue, leading to a 9.4% increase year-over-year.

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,478 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,965 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $5,445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Oak Harvest Investment Services boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 70.3% during the first quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 34,133 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $10,634,000 after purchasing an additional 14,092 shares in the last quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the first quarter valued at about $1,041,000. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 47.2% during the first quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 12.5% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,523 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Biondo Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.4% during the first quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,799 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $10,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,482 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $304.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen 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 value of $376,286.33. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,141,000.91. The trade was a 14.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total value of $434,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares in the company, valued at $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $2.10 on Friday, hitting $287.71. 1,302,709 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,094,510. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.89 billion, a PE ratio of 23.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.49. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $339.17. The firm's 50 day moving average is $293.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $292.92.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 174.71% and a net margin of 18.96%.The firm's revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.97 EPS. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.200-21.300 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect 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 will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. Amgen's payout ratio is 77.84%.

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.