Bank of Nova Scotia Has $29.83 Million Position in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 29.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 106,815 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 24,093 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Amgen were worth $29,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the first quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the second quarter worth about $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Amgen by 3,433.3% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 106 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Down 2.6%

AMGN stock opened at $321.23 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $172.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.45. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $314.36 and a 200-day moving average of $297.78.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $5.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $9.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.98 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 162.59% and a net margin of 19.47%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.58 EPS. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.600-21.400 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share 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 given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $329.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $288.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $385.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Amgen from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amgen has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $335.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 3,139 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was 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 owned 7,225 shares in the company, valued at $2,436,703.50. This trade represents a 30.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 6,879 shares of Amgen 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 directly owned 41,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,120,924.09. This represents a 14.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,908 shares of company stock worth $3,674,966. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.