Synovus Financial Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Key Points

• Synovus Financial Corp reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. by 11.6%, now holding 58,096 shares valued at approximately $18.1 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Amgen, notably GAMMA Investing LLC, which grew its stake by an astonishing 43,573.5%.
• Amgen's quarterly earnings report revealed an EPS of $6.02, exceeding analyst expectations, with projected guidance for FY 2025 set between $20.20 and $21.30.

Synovus Financial Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 11.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,096 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 7,633 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Amgen were worth $18,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. First Pacific Financial increased its position in Amgen by 304.5% during the 1st 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 during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 1,388.9% during the 1st quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 134 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $304.43.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN traded down $1.61 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $287.97. The stock had a trading volume of 1,400,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,120,274. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $293.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $293.08. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $339.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.49.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 174.71%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.97 earnings per share. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.200-21.300 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $434,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,141,000.91. This trade represents a 14.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

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.