Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Price Target Cut to $328.00

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) had its price objective cut by Royal Bank of Canada from $332.00 to $328.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on AMGN. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Amgen from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. SVB Leerink downgraded Amgen from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Amgen from $281.00 to $278.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $305.05.

Amgen Stock Down 3.8 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $299.48 on Friday. Amgen has a 52 week low of $211.71 and a 52 week high of $329.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96. The company has a market capitalization of $160.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $275.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.59.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 156.21%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Amgen will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 128.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total value of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, United Community Bank bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

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.