Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 27,258 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,692,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Amgen by 1.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,711,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,996,807,000 after buying an additional 841,117 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 worth $8,196,775,000 after buying an additional 177,035 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,018,617 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,619,489,000 after acquiring an additional 291,271 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,893,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,600,043,000 after acquiring an additional 687,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 27,765.8% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,700,621 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,870,880,000 after acquiring an additional 6,676,575 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 41,923 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 3,139 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,436,703.50. This trade represents a 30.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,908 shares of company stock worth $3,674,966. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $343.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.55, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.45. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $261.43 and a 1 year high of $346.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $331.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $306.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $5.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.63. Amgen had a net margin of 19.47% and a return on equity of 162.59%. The company had revenue of $9.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.58 EPS. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter 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 analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $2.52 per share. This represents a $10.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.38. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 73.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AMGN. Argus lifted their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. UBS Group raised Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $400.00 to $403.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $339.24.

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.