Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Grows Holdings in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Key Points

• Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in Amgen Inc. by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, resulting in ownership of 27,360 shares valued at approximately $7.64 million.
• Several hedge funds have recently increased their stakes in Amgen, with some institutions demonstrating substantial growth, like Activest Wealth Management, which increased its position by 3,433.3%.
• Amgen has a consensus target price of $304.43, with analysts' ratings varying from Strong Buy to Sell, indicating diverse opinions on the stock's future performance.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,360 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 1,016 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Amgen were worth $7,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. First Pacific Financial increased its position 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 1,214.3% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 92 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Amgen by 3,433.3% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 106 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 14.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $330.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler lifted 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. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $304.43.

Amgen Trading Down 2.2%

Amgen stock opened at $276.39 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $292.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $291.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.60, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.49. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $339.17.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 174.71%. The company had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.97 EPS. Amgen's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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 year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. Amgen's payout ratio is 77.84%.

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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