Amgen’s (AMGN) Buy Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $380.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on AMGN. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.57.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $295.93 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $159.07 billion, a PE ratio of 38.60, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $322.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $318.15. Amgen has a fifty-two week low of $260.52 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. Amgen’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.96 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Amgen will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.24%.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its holdings in Amgen by 7.2% during the second quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 129,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,566,000 after buying an additional 8,700 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen by 11.0% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,758,000 after purchasing an additional 2,353 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen by 3.2% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. now owns 106,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,328,000 after purchasing an additional 3,260 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Amgen during the second quarter valued at $3,354,000. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen by 2.7% during the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 82,368 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,736,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares in 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.