Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $310.18.

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMGN. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Amgen from $329.00 to $328.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $305.00 price target on the stock.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN opened at $272.41 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $291.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $288.09. Amgen has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. 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 market cap of $146.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.08, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.96 EPS. Amgen’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.86%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. This trade represents a 12.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 5,154 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,343,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Blossom Wealth Management grew its stake in Amgen by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 1,090 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Amgen by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,364 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

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.