Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Raised to Strong-Buy at Dbs Bank

Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Monday, Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a buy rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a hold rating and set a $305.00 price objective (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $327.28.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $335.95 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $329.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $305.22. Amgen has a 12 month low of $249.70 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.61.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.01 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.00 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Amgen will post 19.49 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 128.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Verity & Verity LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,182 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Amgen by 99.1% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 840 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 11,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,350 shares during the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $352,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth about $846,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

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.