Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $362.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Argus raised their price objective on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Dbs Bank upgraded Amgen to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird restated an underperform rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a hold rating and set a $305.00 price objective (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $325.55.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $322.67 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $173.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.10, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen has a one year low of $249.70 and a one year high of $346.85. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $328.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $307.54.

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 company had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. United Community Bank bought a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. 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.