Vantage Wealth Sells 3,678 Shares of Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Key Points

• Vantage Wealth has reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. by 5.3%, now holding 65,936 shares, which represent about 4.2% of its investment portfolio valued at approximately $18.4 million.
• Recent research by various analysts has set a consensus price target for Amgen at $304.43, with ratings ranging from "Buy" to "Sell."
• Amgen reported a net margin of 18.96% and an earnings per share of $6.02 for its latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations for both metrics.

Vantage Wealth lessened its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 5.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 65,936 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 3,678 shares during the quarter. Amgen makes up approximately 4.2% of Vantage Wealth's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Vantage Wealth's holdings in Amgen were worth $18,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Amgen by 87.1% during the 1st quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716 shares during the period. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,331,000. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 16,132 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $5,026,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the period. DLK Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 20,491 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,384,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Finally, Founders Financial Alliance LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $491,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.99, for a total value of $376,286.33. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,141,000.91. This represents a 14.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMGN. UBS Group cut their target price on Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Amgen from $330.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Amgen from $328.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $304.43.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $286.00. 3,050,077 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,802,647. The stock has a market cap of $153.97 billion, a PE ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $290.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.29. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $339.17.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $8.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.97 EPS. Amgen's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.200-21.300 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. 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.