Ellsworth Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 19,140 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,963,000. Amgen accounts for about 1.6% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 27,468 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,159,000 after purchasing an additional 5,226 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 352,784 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $91,950,000 after purchasing an additional 2,411 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 21,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,666,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 24,166 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,299,000 after purchasing an additional 2,705 shares during the period. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 143.3% during the fourth quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,681,000 after buying an additional 6,057 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMGN. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $328.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. 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 for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Finally, Bank of America lifted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.99, for a total value of $376,286.33. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,209 shares in the company, valued at $2,141,000.91. This trade represents a 14.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amgen Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $278.51 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $293.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.22. The stock has a market cap of $149.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.49. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $339.17. 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) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.97 earnings per share. The firm’s 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

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 given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.84%.

Amgen 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.