Great Lakes Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Great Lakes Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 115,190 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,298 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $32,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 120 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, Nvwm LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 893.3% during the second quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 149 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $400.00 to $403.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. DZ Bank lifted their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $364.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets boosted their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $339.71.

Amgen Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $342.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.45, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.45. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $261.43 and a 1-year high of $353.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $332.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $308.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $5.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $9.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.98 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 19.47% and a return on equity of 162.59%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.58 EPS. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.600-21.400 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $2.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $10.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.38. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.57%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 6,879 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.83, for a total transaction of $2,317,053.57. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 41,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,120,924.09. This trade represents a 14.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 3,139 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,436,703.50. This trade represents a 30.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,908 shares of company stock valued at $3,674,966. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Profile

Amgen Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN) is a global biotechnology company founded in 1980 and headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. The company focuses on discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering human therapeutics that address serious illnesses. Amgen’s work centers on biologic medicines derived from cellular and molecular biology, with an emphasis on translating advances in human genetics and protein science into therapies for patients.

Amgen’s commercial portfolio has historically included biologics used in oncology, supportive care, nephrology, bone health and cardiovascular disease.