Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Price Target Raised to $294.00

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) had its target price raised by Bank of America from $275.00 to $294.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has an underperform rating on the medical research company's stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on AMGN. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $314.95.

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Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded up $7.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $324.86. 3,944,118 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,545,245. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $286.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $299.89. The firm has a market cap of $174.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at $18,222,743.34. This represents a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Unionview LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 5,863 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 769 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,205,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Semus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.