Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Price Target Raised to $294.00

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) had its target price hoisted by Bank of America from $275.00 to $294.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underperform rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Leerink Partners decreased their price target on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.95.

Amgen Trading Up 1.4 %

AMGN opened at $316.57 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $283.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $299.78. Amgen has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.06 billion, a PE ratio of 41.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Amgen will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. This trade represents a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE boosted its stake 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.