Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.04.

Amgen Trading Up 0.4 %

AMGN opened at $306.95 on Friday. Amgen has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.90 billion, a PE ratio of 40.66, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $301.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $298.16.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,721,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,741,409,000 after purchasing an additional 339,522 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Amgen by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,446,236,000 after buying an additional 345,537 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Amgen by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,441,909,000 after buying an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,475,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,245,881,000 after acquiring an additional 352,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,182,843,000 after acquiring an additional 3,495,503 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.