Analysts Set Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Target Price at $297.40

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $305.05.

AMGN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Amgen from $332.00 to $328.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Raymond James initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. William Blair raised Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised Amgen from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd.

Amgen Stock Up 0.3 %

Amgen stock opened at $300.30 on Wednesday. Amgen has a twelve month low of $211.71 and a twelve month high of $329.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $275.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $281.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.90, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 156.21%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Amgen will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

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

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Balboa Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at about $254,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 8.2% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 120,005 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $32,253,000 after purchasing an additional 9,106 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth $215,000. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth $243,000. Finally, Crescent Sterling Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.0% in the third quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 9,451 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,540,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.