Legal & General Group Plc Has $1.05 Billion Stake in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,716,957 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 177,325 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,048,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinkerton Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pinkerton Wealth LLC now owns 17,976 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,073,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.3% in the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 17,333 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,892,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.7% during the third quarter. Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp now owns 9,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,665,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Amgen by 10.1% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 267,101 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $74,990,000 after purchasing an additional 24,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in Amgen by 17.0% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 333,529 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $91,377,000 after purchasing an additional 48,384 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the subject of several research reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, February 20th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $304.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $347.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $385.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $354.17.

Amgen Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $376.97 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $354.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $323.38. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $261.43 and a twelve month high of $391.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.78, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $203.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.45.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The medical research company reported $5.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.53. Amgen had a return on equity of 148.37% and a net margin of 20.98%.The company had revenue of $9.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Amgen has set its FY 2026 guidance at 21.600-23.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $2.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $10.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 70.84%.

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.