Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

AMGN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.50.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN stock traded down $0.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $319.22. 1,826,745 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,418,089. Amgen has a 52 week low of $260.52 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.53 billion, a PE ratio of 40.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average of $324.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $315.19.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 181.58%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Amgen will post 19.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Amgen by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,088,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,809,720,000 after acquiring an additional 3,045,657 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 547.8% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,005,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,991,738,000 after purchasing an additional 5,923,915 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 33,125.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,437,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,446,757 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Amgen by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,701,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $844,137,000 after purchasing an additional 162,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 6,812.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,523,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,130,610,000 after buying an additional 2,486,882 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is 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.