Amgen’s (AMGN) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Piper Sandler Companies

Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) in a research report released on Thursday,Stock Target Advisor reports. The firm currently has a $310.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on AMGN. Dbs Bank raised Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $320.00 to $333.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.83.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $261.22 on Thursday. Amgen has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $140.41 billion, a PE ratio of 33.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $284.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $310.41.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Amgen will post 19.53 EPS 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 dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth $25,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.