Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Sees Large Volume Increase

Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN – Get Rating) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 1,440,046 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the previous session’s volume of 2,438,371 shares.The stock last traded at $232.35 and had previously closed at $234.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their target price on Amgen from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Amgen from $268.00 to $258.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. SVB Securities dropped their price target on Amgen from $282.00 to $267.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Amgen from $312.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Amgen from $276.00 to $253.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $251.44.

Amgen Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.20, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $245.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $254.81. The company has a market capitalization of $122.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.65.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The medical research company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.04 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 359.47% and a net margin of 24.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.36 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 17.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 18th will be given a $2.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 17th. This represents a $8.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 70.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Amgen by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,351 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,719,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $672,000. Whitener Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Amgen by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,038 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,848,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DDFG Inc bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,222,000. Institutional investors own 75.53% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Company Profile

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Amgen, Inc is a biotechnology company, which engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of human therapeutics. It operates through Human Therapeutics segment. The company was founded by William K. Bowes, Jr., Franklin Pitcher Johnson, Jr., George B. Rathmann, and Joseph Rubinfeld on April 8, 1980 and is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, CA.