Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup began coverage on shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $335.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on AMGN. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $362.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 target price (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.57.

Amgen Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded down $12.60 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $283.33. 3,775,470 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,446,816. The company has a market cap of $152.30 billion, a PE ratio of 36.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen has a one year low of $260.52 and a one year high of $346.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $321.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $318.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Amgen will post 19.51 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keynote Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 4,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,530,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,421,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Hofer & Associates. Inc boosted its position in Amgen by 0.5% during the second quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc now owns 6,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.6% during the third quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,678,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lansing Street Advisors raised its stake in Amgen by 1.3% in the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 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.