Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Downgraded by Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $335.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $320.00.

AMGN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Argus boosted their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $326.89.

Amgen Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded down $2.20 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $322.49. The company had a trading volume of 1,786,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,646,529. Amgen has a 12 month low of $248.38 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96. The stock has a market cap of $172.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.07, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $318.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $298.91.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by ($0.04). Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 156.21%. The firm had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Amgen will post 19.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 presently 128.57%.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the first quarter worth $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. United Community Bank bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen by 2,500.0% during the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 104 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.