Amgen Inc. $AMGN Stock Position Cut by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 26.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,092 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 26,849 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $20,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its stake in Amgen by 296.2% in the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 18,004 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,027,000 after buying an additional 13,460 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its position in shares of Amgen by 165.0% in the second quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 10,643 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,972,000 after purchasing an additional 6,627 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.6% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 243,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $68,590,000 after purchasing an additional 6,222 shares during the period. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth about $1,841,000. Finally, L2 Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 50.8% during the 2nd quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 9,837 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 3,314 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AMGN. Argus lifted their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $329.00 to $304.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $339.45.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 3,139 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.26, for a total value of $1,058,659.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,436,703.50. The trade was a 30.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 6,879 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.83, for a total transaction of $2,317,053.57. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 41,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,120,924.09. The trade was a 14.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,908 shares of company stock worth $3,674,966. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $330.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $331.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $306.01. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $261.43 and a one year high of $346.38. The firm has a market cap of $177.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.45.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its 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 for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.58 EPS. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.600-21.400 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $2.52 dividend. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.38. This represents a $10.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 73.57%.

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.