Royal Bank of Canada Trims Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Target Price to $328.00

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) had its price target reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $332.00 to $328.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on AMGN. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. William Blair upgraded Amgen from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Leerink Partnrs cut Amgen from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $305.05.

Amgen Stock Up 11.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $311.29 on Friday. Amgen has a 52-week low of $211.71 and a 52-week high of $329.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.65. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $274.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.46. The company has a market capitalization of $166.97 billion, a P/E 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 145.62%. The business had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Amgen will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.57%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total value of $662,811.53. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $1,556,912,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,589,900,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,831,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,679,625,000 after buying an additional 751,947 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Amgen by 486.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 899,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $258,997,000 after buying an additional 745,929 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc grew its holdings in Amgen by 150.4% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,043,609 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $300,580,000 after acquiring an additional 626,810 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.