Essex LLC Boosts Stake in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Essex LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 50.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,239 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the quarter. Essex LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $346,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter worth approximately $688,868,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Amgen by 48.5% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,037,169 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $634,680,000 after purchasing an additional 665,555 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Amgen by 128.9% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,065,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $332,017,000 after purchasing an additional 600,096 shares during the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Amgen by 8,223.6% in the second quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 595,634 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $166,307,000 after buying an additional 588,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $156,812,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN opened at $293.85 on Wednesday. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $335.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $286.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $287.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.20 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.31.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) 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. Amgen had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 174.71%. The company had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.97 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.200-21.300 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,141,000.91. The trade was a 14.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $309.42.

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.