Amgen Inc. $AMGN Stock: Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Boosts Position

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,027 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,869 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Amgen were worth $13,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rational Advisors Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rational Advisors Inc. now owns 199 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.0% in the second quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 1,274 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. James T. Borello RIA boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 13.6% in the third quarter. James T. Borello RIA now owns 209 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Sweeney & Michel LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.5% in the third quarter. Sweeney & Michel LLC now owns 5,129 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.8% in the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,407 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Amgen News

These are some of the AMGN news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Dazodalibep met the primary endpoint in the 648-patient OASIZ-301 trial, with both dosing regimens producing statistically significant reductions in systemic disease activity versus placebo over 48 weeks. Amgen also reported clinically meaningful improvements in patient-reported symptoms, potentially positioning the drug in a disease area with no approved treatments. Reuters article
• Neutral Sentiment: The positive data may improve dazodalibep’s commercial prospects, but it remains investigational; further development and regulatory review are needed before it can generate sales. Amgen announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the encouraging results, some coverage reported that Amgen shares slipped, indicating investors may be taking a cautious or “sell-the-news” approach rather than immediately pricing in the drug’s longer-term potential. MSN article

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Freedom Broker cut shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $450.00 to $470.00 in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $359.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Amgen from $405.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Amgen from $450.00 to $415.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $422.76.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $468.11 on Thursday. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $312.39 and a 1 year high of $483.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $253.21 billion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.48. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $424.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $380.01.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The medical research company reported $6.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.79 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $10.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.07 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 24.14% and a return on equity of 114.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 23.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $2.52 per share. This represents a $10.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 20th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 58.47%.

About Amgen

Amgen is a biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines for serious illnesses. Its research and product portfolio span areas including cancer, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, bone health and rare diseases. The company’s medicines include Enbrel, Prolia, Xgeva and Repatha. Amgen serves patients and healthcare providers in the United States and markets its products internationally. Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California, Amgen is led by Robert A. Bradway, who has served as its chief executive officer since 2012.