North Star Investment Management Corp. Grows Stake in Amgen Inc. $AMGN

North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,240 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the first quarter worth about $25,000. First Pacific Financial increased its position in shares of Amgen by 304.5% during the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 89 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 1,214.3% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 92 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Amgen by 3,433.3% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 106 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $279.22 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $289.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $289.92. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $335.88. The company has a market cap of $150.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 77.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Amgen from $328.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Amgen from $330.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $309.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was 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 directly owned 7,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,141,000.91. The trade was a 14.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.