FORA Capital LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

FORA Capital LLC trimmed its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 93.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 730 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 11,075 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. First Pacific Financial increased its position in shares of Amgen by 304.5% in the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 89 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in shares of Amgen by 1,388.9% in the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 134 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total value of $434,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 8,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.99, for a total transaction of $376,286.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,209 shares in the company, valued at $2,141,000.91. This represents a 14.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $288.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.43.

Amgen Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $287.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.31. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $339.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $293.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $292.92.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.28 by $0.74. Amgen had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 174.71%. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.200-21.300 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.84%.

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.