apricus wealth LLC Boosts Stock Position in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

apricus wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,628 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. Amgen accounts for about 2.2% of apricus wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. apricus wealth LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. First Pacific Financial raised its stake in Amgen by 304.5% during the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 89 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 1,214.3% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 92 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in Amgen by 3,433.3% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 106 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Amgen by 12,200.0% in the first quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 123 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,141,000.91. This represents a 14.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Weiss Ratings raised Amgen from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $261.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Piper Sandler upped 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. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $300.94.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $303.33 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $163.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $287.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $287.05. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $335.88.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.28 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 174.71%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.97 EPS. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.200-21.300 EPS. On average, sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 77.84%.

About Amgen

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.