Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in Amgen Inc. by 30.3% in the first quarter, owning 15,606 shares valued at approximately $4.86 million as per its recent SEC filing.
• Amgen's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $6.02, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $9.18 billion, representing a 9.4% year-over-year increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $2.38 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 3.3%, with the payout ratio currently at 77.84%.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 30.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,606 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,631 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 1,292.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,693,042,000 after acquiring an additional 6,029,058 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,653,205 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,182,843,000 after acquiring an additional 3,495,503 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,431,029 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,676,183,000 after acquiring an additional 875,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,890,092 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,274,553,000 after acquiring an additional 839,686 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $328.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America boosted 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. Finally, Guggenheim began 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $303.76.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total transaction of $434,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares in the company, valued at $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN stock traded up $3.53 on Friday, hitting $288.23. The company had a trading volume of 1,802,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,050,777. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $339.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $293.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $292.57. The stock has a market cap of $155.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.49.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 174.71%. The business had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.97 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.