Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) in a report issued on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $405.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a hold rating and issued a $305.00 price target (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Amgen from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and upped their target price for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Argus raised their price target on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $325.55.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $322.67 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $328.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $307.33. Amgen has a 1-year low of $249.70 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $173.09 billion, a PE ratio of 46.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.57%.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. United Community Bank acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.