Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Amgen Call Options (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 320,232 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 2,412% compared to the typical volume of 12,750 call options.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $366.20 on Friday. Amgen has a 12 month low of $261.43 and a 12 month high of $385.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.78, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $336.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $313.14. The company has a market cap of $197.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.46.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The medical research company reported $5.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.53. Amgen had a net margin of 20.98% and a return on equity of 148.37%. The business had revenue of $9.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.31 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Amgen has set its FY 2026 guidance at 21.600-23.000 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Amgen will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $2.52 per share. This represents a $10.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.38. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 3,139 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,436,703.50. The trade was a 30.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Amgen by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,838,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,949,296,000 after buying an additional 961,975 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,357,026 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,196,775,000 after acquiring an additional 177,035 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Amgen by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 23,097,711 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,560,249,000 after purchasing an additional 4,302,237 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Amgen by 1.5% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,192,995 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,414,296,000 after purchasing an additional 282,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,303,294 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,665,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035,779 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMGN. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Amgen from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price target on Amgen from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $400.00 price objective on Amgen and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $354.04.

About Amgen

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.