First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 1,069 Shares of Amgen Inc. $AMGN

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,245 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $885,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 1,146 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 732 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 861 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Down 1.8%

Amgen stock opened at $290.13 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $286.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $287.68. 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 one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $335.88. The stock has a market cap of $156.19 billion, a PE ratio of 23.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 77.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMGN. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Amgen from $328.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Amgen from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $309.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Amgen Company 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.