Baird Financial Group Inc. Cuts Position in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 284,528 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 24,670 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Amgen worth $79,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 27,765.8% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,700,621 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,870,880,000 after buying an additional 6,676,575 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,663,726,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter worth approximately $688,868,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,711,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,996,807,000 after acquiring an additional 841,117 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,893,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,600,043,000 after acquiring an additional 687,735 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on AMGN shares. DZ Bank boosted their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $364.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Amgen in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set a “hold” rating and a $318.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $385.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $400.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $335.65.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 3,139 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.24, for a total value of $299,253.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,381,251.68. The trade was a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 10,908 shares of company stock worth $3,674,966 over the last quarter. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

Amgen stock opened at $340.16 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.45. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.38. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $312.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $296.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $5.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $9.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.98 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 19.47% and a return on equity of 162.59%. The company’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.58 earnings per share. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.600-21.400 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.57%.

Amgen Profile

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.