Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 47.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,156 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 21,273 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,711,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,996,807,000 after buying an additional 841,117 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,357,026 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,196,775,000 after buying an additional 177,035 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,018,617 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,619,489,000 after acquiring an additional 291,271 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Amgen by 5.6% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,893,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,600,043,000 after acquiring an additional 687,735 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Amgen by 27,765.8% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,700,621 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,870,880,000 after purchasing an additional 6,676,575 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $385.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Amgen in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set a “hold” rating and a $318.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upped their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.85.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.24, for a total transaction of $299,253.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,381,251.68. This trade represents a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 3,139 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.26, for a total transaction of $1,058,659.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,436,703.50. The trade was a 30.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,908 shares of company stock valued at $3,674,966. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $317.74 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45. The stock has a market cap of $171.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $316.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $298.92. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.38.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $5.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.63. Amgen had a return on equity of 162.59% and a net margin of 19.47%.The business had revenue of $9.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.58 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.600-21.400 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $2.52 dividend. This represents a $10.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.38. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.57%.

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.