2,001 Amgen Inc. $AMGN Shares Bought by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 105,641 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,001 shares during the period. Amgen comprises about 0.9% of Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $44,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 38.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,205,243 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $15,283,363,000 after acquiring an additional 11,656,755 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,831,903,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Amgen by 1,102.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,742,271 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $993,031,000 after acquiring an additional 2,514,254 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Amgen by 4.8% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 49,362,016 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $17,874,974,000 after acquiring an additional 2,261,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 702.8% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,535,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $647,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,344,010 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Amgen this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Amgen reported quarterly earnings and revenue above expectations, with revenue up 8.5% year over year. Its earnings-call discussion also emphasized growth and pipeline momentum, supporting the case for continued expansion. Amgen Earnings Call Highlights Growth, Pipeline Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: A large real-world study found Repatha lowered heart-attack risk by 20% versus ezetimibe in patients with heart disease. The findings could strengthen the drug’s clinical and commercial position. Repatha real-world study
• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank reiterated a Buy view and set a $530 price target; UBS also maintains a Buy rating with a $530 target. Separately, ETFs bought a net $79.8 million of AMGN shares in Wednesday’s session. Scotiabank price target ETF holdings
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinions remain divided: Leerink Partners and Guggenheim have Hold/neutral ratings, while Scotiabank and UBS are more optimistic. The differing views suggest debate about how much of Amgen’s recent gains are already reflected in its valuation. Leerink Partners rating
• Negative Sentiment: Freedom Broker downgraded Amgen to Hold, adding to the cautious analyst commentary and potentially tempering enthusiasm after the recent rally. Freedom Broker downgrade

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $460.42 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $248.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.43. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $312.39 and a one year high of $483.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $422.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $378.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.44, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The medical research company reported $6.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.79 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $10.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.07 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 124.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 23.33 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 20th will be paid 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $378.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Amgen from $359.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Freedom Broker downgraded shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $450.00 to $470.00 in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $430.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Amgen from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $420.80.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.57, for a total value of $825,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,642,098.28. This trade represents a 23.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amgen Company Profile

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.