Legal & General Group Plc Purchases 94,494 Shares of Amgen Inc. $AMGN

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,811,451 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 94,494 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,247,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Narus Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 44,707 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,633,000 after acquiring an additional 3,056 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 9,622 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,149,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Amgen by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,630 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Amgen stock opened at $339.30 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $345.10 and a 200-day moving average of $344.72. The firm has a market cap of $183.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.44. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.83 and a 1-year high of $391.29.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical research company reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $8.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 20.96% and a return on equity of 137.41%. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.90 earnings per share. Amgen has set its FY 2026 guidance at 21.700-23.100 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 22.37 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $2.52 per share. This represents a $10.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,237 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.73, for a total transaction of $400,454.01. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,269,023.57. This represents a 15.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Amgen News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Amgen this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Amgen expanded its lung cancer pipeline by launching a phase 1b study testing a tarlatamab combination in small cell lung cancer, which could improve the company’s oncology growth prospects if the data are encouraging. Amgen Expands Lung Cancer Pipeline With New Tarlatamab Combo Study
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports highlighted Amgen as a long-term value/dividend and pipeline story, citing upside potential and analyst support such as an Overweight rating from Piper Sandler, reinforcing confidence in the company’s revenue growth outlook. Why Wall Street Thinks This Dividend Stock Could Jump 30%
• Positive Sentiment: Amgen shareholders reaffirmed the board, executive pay and auditors, which signals governance stability and removes a potential overhang. Amgen Shareholders Reaffirm Board, Pay and Auditors
• Neutral Sentiment: Amgen appointed Thomas Dittrich as chief financial officer, a management update that should be watched for any strategic or capital-allocation changes, but is not clearly a near-term stock catalyst. CFOs On the Move: Week ending May 22
• Negative Sentiment: Investor focus remains on safety concerns around Tavneos after reported patient deaths in Japan prompted restrictions on new prescriptions and raised the risk of withdrawal requests in the U.S., creating a potential earnings and sentiment headwind for Amgen. A Look At Amgen (AMGN) Valuation As Tavneos Safety Concerns And Withdrawal Requests Escalate
• Negative Sentiment: News that doctors in Japan could again prescribe Tavneos to new patients only partially eases concerns, because the drug still carries liver-injury warnings and the broader safety controversy may continue to pressure sentiment. Doctors in Japan can again prescribe an Amgen rare-disease drug to new patients, reversing a recommendation made only days ago following 20 deaths

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AMGN. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $375.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley set a $332.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $400.00 price target on shares of Amgen and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $355.19.

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.