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

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 202,823 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 2,107% compared to the typical volume of 9,190 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AMGN. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Scotiabank began coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $385.00 target price on the stock. DZ Bank raised their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $364.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $319.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 6,879 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 41,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,120,924.09. The trade was a 14.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.24, for a total transaction of $299,253.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,082 shares in the company, valued at $2,381,251.68. This represents a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the first quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 1,214.3% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 92 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in Amgen during the second quarter worth about $32,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN traded down $6.33 on Thursday, reaching $336.07. 3,182,648 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,746,761. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $298.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $291.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.97 billion, a PE ratio of 27.48, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.45. Amgen has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $345.84.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $9.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.98 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 174.71% and a net margin of 18.96%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.58 earnings per share. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.600-21.400 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

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

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.