Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) PT Raised to $310.00 at Morgan Stanley

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $271.00 to $310.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Amgen from $314.00 to $284.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer reissued an outperform rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a market perform rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Amgen from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and raised their price target for the company from $230.00 to $300.00 in a report on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $305.05.

Amgen Trading Up 11.8 %

Amgen stock opened at $311.29 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $274.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.46. Amgen has a fifty-two week low of $211.71 and a fifty-two week high of $329.72. The stock has a market cap of $166.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.47, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.65.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 145.62%. The firm had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Amgen will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $662,811.53. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, United Community Bank bought a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 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.