Merit Financial Group LLC Has $6.79 Million Stake in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Amgen Inc. by 20.1% during the second quarter, now owning shares valued at $6.79 million.
• Amgen reported strong earnings, with $6.02 earnings per share for the quarter, surpassing expectations of $5.28.
• Several analysts adjusted their price targets for Amgen, with Morgan Stanley raising theirs from $330 to $333, maintaining a rating of "equal weight".

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 20.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,325 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 4,073 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $6,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AMGN. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the first quarter valued at $25,000. First Pacific Financial increased its stake in Amgen by 304.5% in 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. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 1,214.3% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 92 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in Amgen by 3,433.3% in 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, Nova Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on AMGN. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $328.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $309.70.

Amgen Stock Up 0.2%

AMGN opened at $297.89 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24. The stock has a market cap of $160.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.36, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.49. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $335.88. The company's 50-day moving average price is $287.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.98.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.28 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 174.71%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.97 earnings per share. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.200-21.300 EPS. As a group, equities 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. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.84%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,141,000.91. This represents a 14.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

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.

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