Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Downgraded to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

AMGN has been the subject of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Leerink Partners lowered their price target on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $319.68.

Amgen Trading Down 2.7 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $258.78 on Wednesday. Amgen has a 1 year low of $257.80 and a 1 year high of $346.85. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $139.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.13, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $298.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $313.94.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced 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. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders 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. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 121.90%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $426,000. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 977 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 6.7% during the third quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Amgen by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,156,091 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $699,910,000 after purchasing an additional 76,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 9.0% in the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,578,000 after purchasing an additional 2,954 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.