Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Upgraded by Citigroup to Hold Rating

Citigroup upgraded shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $362.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, September 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.57.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN traded down $14.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $281.89. 2,374,094 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,440,503. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.44, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen has a 1-year low of $260.52 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $321.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $318.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.96 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Amgen will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 115.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&G Plc purchased a new position in Amgen in the first quarter valued at about $7,633,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 18.9% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 35,673 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,143,000 after buying an additional 5,668 shares in the last quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the first quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Patten & Patten Inc. TN raised its stake in Amgen by 4.6% during the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 3,104 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $883,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in Amgen by 218.0% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 12,434 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,535,000 after buying an additional 8,524 shares in the last quarter. 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.