Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock Rating Upgraded by Citigroup

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) was upgraded by equities researchers at Citigroup to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on AMGN. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.57.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $295.93 on Wednesday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $322.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $318.15. Amgen has a 12 month low of $260.52 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $159.07 billion, a PE ratio of 37.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Amgen will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its stake in Amgen by 7.2% during the second quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 129,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,566,000 after acquiring an additional 8,700 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 11.0% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,758,000 after acquiring an additional 2,353 shares during the period. Cornerstone Capital Inc. raised its stake in Amgen by 3.2% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. now owns 106,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,328,000 after acquiring an additional 3,260 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in Amgen during the second quarter worth about $3,354,000. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 2.7% during the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 82,368 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,736,000 after acquiring an additional 2,182 shares during the period. 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.