Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

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 Thursday.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on AMGN. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $323.05.

Amgen Trading Up 1.0 %

Amgen stock opened at $282.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $311.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $317.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.22, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen has a 52 week low of $257.80 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Amgen will post 19.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Keynote Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 4,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,421,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc boosted its position in Amgen by 0.5% in the second quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc now owns 6,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.6% during the third quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,678,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lansing Street Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.3% during the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

About Amgen

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.