Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-seven research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $318.83.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. 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, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $261.22 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $140.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.45, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $284.63 and a 200-day moving average of $310.47.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued 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 net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Amgen will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.90%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.