Amgen Inc. $AMGN Shares Sold by MetLife Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. by 1.8% in Q1, holding 157,708 shares valued at approximately $49.13 million after selling nearly 3,000 shares.
• Amgen reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $6.02, exceeding analyst expectations, and revenue of $9.18 billion, marking a 9.4% year-over-year increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $2.38, to be paid on September 12th, representing an annualized yield of 3.2%.

MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 157,708 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 2,967 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $49,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its stake in Amgen by 70.3% during the first quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 34,133 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $10,634,000 after acquiring an additional 14,092 shares during the last quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter worth about $1,041,000. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in Amgen by 47.2% during the 1st quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Amgen by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,523 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Biondo Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 4.4% in 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 buying an additional 1,482 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Erste Group Bank lowered Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Amgen from $328.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $304.43.

Amgen Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Amgen stock traded down $1.61 on Wednesday, hitting $287.97. 1,400,593 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,120,274. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $339.17. 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 $155.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.55, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.49. The firm's 50-day moving average is $293.28 and its 200 day moving average is $293.08.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $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. Equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Amgen's payout ratio is 77.84%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total transaction of $434,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,162 shares in the company, valued at $2,364,368.16. This represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,141,000.91. The trade was a 14.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.