Plato Investment Management Ltd Sells 3,091 Shares of Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Key Points

• Plato Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. by 15.3%, selling 3,091 shares in the first quarter, leaving it with 17,063 shares valued at approximately $5.37 million.
• A number of institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, have made significant adjustments to their holdings in Amgen, indicating ongoing interest in the stock amongst large investment firms.
• Analyst ratings for Amgen include one Strong Buy, seven Buy, and twelve Hold ratings, with a consensus target price of $304.43.

Plato Investment Management Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 15.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,063 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 3,091 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Amgen were worth $5,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the first quarter worth $25,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. First Pacific Financial lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Amgen by 3,433.3% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 106 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $328.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $304.43.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 7,209 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of AMGN traded down $6.34 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $276.39. 2,143,109 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,855,134. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month 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 company's fifty day moving average price is $292.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $291.76. The company has a market capitalization of $148.80 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.28 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 174.71%. Amgen's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.97 earnings per share. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.200-21.300 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.84%.

Amgen 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.