Analysts Set Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Price Target at $325.55

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-four brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $325.55.

AMGN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Argus lifted their price target on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $362.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, September 26th.

Amgen Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $322.21 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $328.49 and a 200-day moving average of $308.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.84 billion, a PE ratio of 46.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61. Amgen has a 52 week low of $249.70 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.00 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Amgen will post 19.49 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Amgen

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 295.3% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,684 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 2,752 shares during the last quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $272,000. Evoke Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 8,185 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,358,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $573,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.