Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 2,733 Shares of Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 17.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,873 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,733 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 296.2% during the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 18,004 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,027,000 after purchasing an additional 13,460 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its position in Amgen by 165.0% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 10,643 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,972,000 after buying an additional 6,627 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC raised its position in Amgen by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 16,132 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,026,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 14.2% in the second quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 95,731 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,729,000 after acquiring an additional 11,888 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AMGN. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Amgen from $288.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Bank of America increased their target price on Amgen from $261.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, DZ Bank upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $364.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.05.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.99, for a total value of $376,286.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,141,000.91. This represents a 14.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 6,879 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.83, for a total value of $2,317,053.57. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 41,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,120,924.09. This represents a 14.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,036 shares of company stock worth $2,992,594. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $340.33 on Monday. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $345.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24. The company has a market capitalization of $183.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $294.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $290.39.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Amgen’s payout ratio 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.