USS Investment Management Ltd Trims Position in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Key Points

• USS Investment Management Ltd sold 44,026 shares of Amgen Inc., decreasing its stake by 33.0%, leaving it with 89,577 shares valued at approximately $27.9 million.
• GAMMA Investing LLC significantly increased its holdings in Amgen by 43,573.5%, acquiring over 3.6 million shares worth about $1.14 billion.
• Amgen recently announced a quarterly dividend of $2.38 per share, representing a yield of 3.4%, with a payout ratio of 77.84%.

USS Investment Management Ltd lowered its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 33.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 89,577 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 44,026 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Amgen were worth $27,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. First Pacific Financial lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.99, for a total value 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 approximately $2,141,000.91. This trade represents a 14.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $330.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Amgen from $328.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $304.43.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock traded down $1.46 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $278.51. 2,120,543 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,781,943. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $293.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $292.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $339.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.49.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.28 by $0.74. Amgen had a return on equity of 174.71% and a net margin of 18.96%.The company had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.97 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.200-21.300 EPS. Research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors 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 yield of 3.4%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.84%.

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.