KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys 8,500 Shares of Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in Amgen Inc. by 4.6%, acquiring an additional 8,500 shares for a total holding worth approximately $53.67 million.
• Amgen reported strong quarterly earnings, achieving an EPS of $6.02, surpassing analyst expectations by $0.74, with revenue reaching $9.18 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $2.38 per share, providing an annualized yield of 3.2% with a payout ratio of 77.84%.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 4.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 192,216 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,500 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Amgen were worth $53,669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the first quarter worth about $25,000. First Pacific Financial lifted its stake in Amgen by 304.5% in the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 89 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 1,214.3% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 92 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 3,433.3% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 106 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 12,200.0% in the first quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 123 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AMGN. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Amgen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Amgen from $330.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $309.42.

Amgen Trading Down 1.3%

Amgen stock opened at $294.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $287.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $287.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.49. 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 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $8.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.97 earnings per share. The business'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. Analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued 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 yield of 3.2%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 7,209 shares in the company, valued at $2,141,000.91. The trade was a 14.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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