UBS Group Cuts Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Price Target to $326.00

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) had its target price cut by UBS Group from $335.00 to $326.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the medical research company’s stock.

AMGN has been the topic of several other research reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.50.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $319.22 on Thursday. Amgen has a 52 week low of $260.52 and a 52 week high of $346.85. 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 has a market cap of $171.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.87, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $324.47 and a 200-day moving average of $315.54.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 181.58% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Amgen will post 19.48 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

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.