Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Price Target Lowered to $280.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) had its target price reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $335.00 to $280.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AMGN. UBS Group cut their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Amgen from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Robert W. Baird restated an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.91.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock opened at $262.23 on Friday. Amgen has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business’s 50-day moving average is $279.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $308.66.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Amgen will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.90%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,421,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Lansing Street Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Unionview LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Traveka Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 807 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.