Brokerages Set Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) PT at $297.40

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $305.05.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James started coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Amgen from $332.00 to $328.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. William Blair raised Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $284.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd.

Amgen Stock Performance

Amgen stock opened at $300.30 on Wednesday. Amgen has a 1-year low of $211.71 and a 1-year high of $329.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.07 billion, a PE ratio of 42.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $275.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.74.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 156.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Amgen will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 128.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $1,556,912,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,589,900,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 28,684.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 833,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $236,924,000 after purchasing an additional 830,405 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,831,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,679,625,000 after purchasing an additional 751,947 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 486.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 899,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $258,997,000 after buying an additional 745,929 shares during 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.