Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Given Outperform Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $362.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AMGN. Jefferies Financial Group restated a buy rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Amgen from $360.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Amgen to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Amgen from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $325.55.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $322.67 on Thursday. Amgen has a 52 week low of $249.70 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The firm has a market cap of $173.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.10, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $328.77 and a 200-day moving average of $307.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.00 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Amgen will post 19.49 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 128.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in Amgen by 16.8% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,615 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 6,211 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,941,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter valued at $16,515,000. Verity & Verity LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.7% in the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 82,368 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,736,000 after acquiring an additional 2,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Amgen by 99.1% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 840 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.