Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twenty-four analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $314.09.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Redburn Partners lowered their price target on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock opened at $310.78 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $281.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $299.73. The company has a market capitalization of $166.95 billion, a PE ratio of 41.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Analysts predict that Amgen will post 20.62 earnings per share 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. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

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.