Axa S.A. Boosts Stake in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Axa S.A. lifted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 37.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 379,296 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 103,665 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $105,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 27,765.8% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,700,621 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,870,880,000 after purchasing an additional 6,676,575 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,663,726,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Amgen by 1.6% in the 2nd 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Amgen by 5.6% during the second 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 buying an additional 687,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Amgen by 128.9% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,065,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $332,017,000 after buying an additional 600,096 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AMGN. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Amgen from $288.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $318.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $343.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $335.65.

Amgen Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $321.23 on Tuesday. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.38. The company has a market capitalization of $172.98 billion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $314.36 and a 200-day moving average of $297.78.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $5.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.63. Amgen had a return on equity of 162.59% and a net margin of 19.47%.The business had revenue of $9.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.98 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.58 earnings per share. The company’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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 73.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 6,879 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 41,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,120,924.09. This trade represents a 14.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 3,139 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.26, for a total transaction of $1,058,659.14. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,436,703.50. This trade represents a 30.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,908 shares of company stock worth $3,674,966. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company 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.