Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on AMGN. Dbs Bank upgraded Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen lifted their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $323.05.

Amgen Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AMGN opened at $282.87 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $311.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $317.16. The stock has a market cap of $152.05 billion, a PE ratio of 36.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. Amgen has a 52-week low of $257.80 and a 52-week high of $346.85.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.96 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Amgen will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other 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.