Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $261.19, but opened at $269.00. Amgen shares last traded at $264.46, with a volume of 1,736,690 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial lowered shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $333.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Robert W. Baird restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $319.67.

Amgen Trading Up 0.8 %

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 business has a 50 day moving average of $296.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $313.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.96 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.90%.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth about $29,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.