41,191 Shares in Amgen Inc. $AMGN Purchased by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 41,191 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,501,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Amgen by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,870,453 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $16,471,790,000 after acquiring an additional 148,658 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Amgen by 6.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,883,134 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,521,339,000 after acquiring an additional 274,488 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Amgen by 5.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,454,164 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,387,695,000 after acquiring an additional 243,306 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Amgen by 1.6% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,266,009 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,017,525,000 after acquiring an additional 52,734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Amgen by 0.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,020,545 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $940,989,000 after acquiring an additional 22,820 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.99, for a total transaction of $376,286.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,141,000.91. This represents a 14.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $298.81 on Monday. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $335.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $287.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $286.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.28 by $0.74. Amgen had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 174.71%. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.97 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.200-21.300 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 77.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMGN. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $261.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $330.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $305.50.

About Amgen

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.