Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 614,341 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 12,052 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $222,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Anfield Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 1,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 77 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 275.0% in the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 331.6% in the 1st quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 82 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 97 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,252 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.43, for a total value of $521,370.36. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,404 shares in the company, valued at $2,666,817.72. The trade was a 16.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,970 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.16, for a total transaction of $1,194,415.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,951,854.40. The trade was a 28.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,222 shares of company stock worth $2,540,926. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their target price on Amgen from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Amgen from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $372.39.

Amgen Stock Down 0.6%

AMGN opened at $415.21 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $370.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $358.93. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $269.77 and a 52 week high of $421.79. The company has a market capitalization of $224.47 billion, a PE ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.44.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical research company reported $6.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.62 by $0.67. Amgen had a return on equity of 124.14% and a net margin of 22.95%.The firm had revenue of $10.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.02 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Amgen has set its FY 2026 guidance at 22.300-23.500 EPS. Analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 22.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a $2.52 dividend. This represents a $10.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.65%.

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.