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

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

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer restated an outperform rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $332.00 to $328.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Amgen from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. SVB Leerink cut shares of Amgen from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $324.00 to $318.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $305.05.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $311.29 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.97 billion, a PE ratio of 44.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.60. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $274.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.46. Amgen has a 52-week low of $211.71 and a 52-week high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given 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 yield of 2.89%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 128.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was 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 approximately $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.