Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Hold" by the twenty-six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $319.68.

Several analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Redburn Partners cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Amgen Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $0.65 on Thursday, hitting $274.06. 3,748,306 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,619,943. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $303.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $315.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.32 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.55. Amgen has a twelve month low of $257.80 and a twelve month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. Amgen's revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.96 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Amgen will post 19.51 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This is a positive change from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen's payout ratio is currently 121.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.