Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $297.40.

AMGN has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. SVB Leerink cut Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $324.00 to $318.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BIP Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 1,249 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 999 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 4,626 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN opened at $273.94 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $274.76 and a 200 day moving average of $281.37. Amgen has a 52-week low of $211.71 and a 52-week high of $329.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. The stock has a market cap of $146.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.93, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.58.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.66 by $0.05. Amgen had a return on equity of 154.27% and a net margin of 23.83%. The company had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.09 EPS. Amgen’s revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen will post 19.43 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.06%.

Amgen Company Profile

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.