Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Rating Increased to Outperform at William Blair

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) was upgraded by William Blair from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports.

AMGN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, SVB Leerink downgraded shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $324.00 to $318.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.05.

Amgen Trading Up 11.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $311.29 on Friday. Amgen has a 12-month low of $211.71 and a 12-month high of $329.72. The company has a market cap of $166.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $274.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.50.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. Amgen had a return on equity of 145.62% and a net margin of 12.74%. The firm had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Amgen will post 19.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, United Community Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.