Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $305.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $310.23.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $265.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The business has a 50 day moving average of $296.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $289.50. The company has a market cap of $142.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. Amgen has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. The business had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Amgen will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,707 shares of company stock worth $12,819,342 in the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. First Pacific Financial grew its stake in Amgen by 304.5% in the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 89 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.