Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on AMGN. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $315.22.

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Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ AMGN traded up $4.57 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $285.98. 3,466,932 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,779,713. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $304.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $295.11. Amgen has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $153.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its stake in Amgen by 2.0% during the first quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 66,003 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $20,563,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares during the period. KFG Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 6.6% in the first quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,463 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. lifted its position in Amgen by 0.3% in the first quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 16,295 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $5,077,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in Amgen by 0.8% during the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 62,909 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $19,599,000 after buying an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impact Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC now owns 937 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.