Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Receives $325.55 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $325.55.

AMGN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, September 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $405.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $360.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Amgen Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $319.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.51 billion, a PE ratio of 45.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $327.92 and its 200 day moving average is $308.56. Amgen has a 1 year low of $249.70 and a 1 year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.01 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Amgen will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 128.57%.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,088,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,809,720,000 after acquiring an additional 3,045,657 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Amgen by 547.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,005,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,991,738,000 after buying an additional 5,923,915 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Amgen by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,564,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,890,769,000 after buying an additional 243,720 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Amgen by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,831,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,679,625,000 after buying an additional 751,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Amgen by 6.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,701,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $844,137,000 after buying an additional 162,223 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.