Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on AMGN. Dbs Bank raised Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $319.68.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $275.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $305.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $315.66. Amgen has a 12 month low of $257.80 and a 12 month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Amgen will post 19.51 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.24%.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $426,000. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in Amgen by 9.8% during the third quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 977 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Old North State Trust LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 6.7% in the third quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Amgen by 3.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,156,091 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $699,910,000 after purchasing an additional 76,798 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,578,000 after buying an additional 2,954 shares in 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.