Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $314.91.

A number of research firms have issued reports on AMGN. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $256.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th.

Amgen Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $262.23 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $279.10 and its 200-day moving average is $308.76. Amgen has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The firm has a market cap of $140.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 121.90%.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,421,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Lansing Street Advisors boosted its stake in Amgen by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Unionview LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, D Orazio & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Amgen by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 3,101 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $969,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 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.