Cantor Fitzgerald Begins Coverage on Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday. The brokerage set a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 price target on the medical research company's stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's price target would indicate a potential upside of 11.44% from the stock's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Amgen from $328.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $310.57.

Amgen Trading Down 1.3 %

AMGN stock opened at $273.68 on Tuesday. 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 twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $302.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $293.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Amgen will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 over the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its stake in Amgen by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.