Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Lowered to "Buy" Rating by StockNews.com

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve 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 MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $319.68.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $266.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 264,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,624,350. The firm has a market cap of $142.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.55. Amgen has a 12 month low of $257.80 and a 12 month high of $346.85. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $299.97 and a 200-day moving average of $314.33.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.96 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Amgen will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Keynote Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 0.6% in the second quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 4,898 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,421,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,678,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Lansing Street Advisors boosted its holdings in Amgen by 1.3% in the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unionview LLC grew its position in Amgen by 3.8% during the third quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.