The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Raises Stock Position in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Amgen Inc. by 128.9%, holding over 1 million shares worth approximately $332 million.
• Institutional investors now own 76.50% of Amgen’s stock, with significant increases in holdings reported by firms like GAMMA Investing LLC and UBS AM.
• Analyst ratings for Amgen show a mixed outlook, with a current average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $304.43, following various adjustments in recent reports.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 128.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,065,694 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 600,096 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.20% of Amgen worth $332,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,870,453 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $16,471,790,000 after purchasing an additional 148,658 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,128,328 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,336,647,000 after purchasing an additional 685,785 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 5.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,454,164 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,387,695,000 after buying an additional 243,306 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Amgen by 43,573.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,661,589 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,140,768,000 after buying an additional 3,653,205 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Amgen by 1.6% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,266,009 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,017,525,000 after buying an additional 52,734 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded up $2.10 during trading on Monday, hitting $287.71. The company had a trading volume of 1,302,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,039,096. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $293.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $292.88. 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 $154.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 174.71%. Amgen's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.97 earnings per share. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.200-21.300 EPS. On average, research 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 will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors 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 payout ratio is presently 77.84%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. The trade was a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.99, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $304.43.

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.