Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 22,354 Shares of Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 552,612 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,354 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Amgen were worth $155,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Lee Financial Co raised its position in shares of Amgen by 4.6% in the third quarter. Lee Financial Co now owns 3,818 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in Amgen by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 32,556 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 17,053 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,089,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Columbia Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Columbia Asset Management now owns 22,941 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,474,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Tyche Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 57.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. HSBC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $342.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 3,139 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president owned 7,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,436,703.50. The trade was a 30.29% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 stock was sold at an average price of $336.83, for a total value of $2,317,053.57. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 41,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,120,924.09. This trade represents a 14.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 10,908 shares of company stock valued at $3,674,966 over the last 90 days. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $341.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.42, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $332.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $309.34. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $261.43 and a 12 month high of $353.25.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $5.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.63. Amgen had a net margin of 19.47% and a return on equity of 162.59%. The business had revenue of $9.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.58 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.600-21.400 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $2.52 dividend. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.38. This represents a $10.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 73.57%.

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.