Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $271.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays raised Amgen from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $300.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, William Blair raised Amgen from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $305.05.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $311.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Amgen has a 1 year low of $211.71 and a 1 year high of $329.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $274.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $281.46. The stock has a market cap of $166.97 billion, a PE ratio of 44.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. Amgen had a return on equity of 145.62% and a net margin of 12.74%. The business had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.98 EPS. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Amgen will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 128.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, United Community Bank bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

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.