Sterling Capital Management LLC Acquires 12,610 Shares of Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 47.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,610 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $11,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the first quarter worth $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 1,214.3% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 92 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in Amgen by 3,433.3% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 106 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 200.0% in the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 120 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 12,200.0% during the first quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 123 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $405.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.89.

Amgen Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $315.59 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $289.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.18. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $335.88. 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 capitalization of $169.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.45.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $5.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.63. Amgen had a return on equity of 174.71% and a net margin of 18.96%.The firm had revenue of $9.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.600-21.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 73.57%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.99, for a total transaction of $376,286.33. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,141,000.91. This trade represents a 14.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.