Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $420.97 and last traded at $417.2320, with a volume of 109529 shares. The stock had previously closed at $417.20.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMGN. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Amgen from $366.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Amgen from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $345.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $295.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Amgen from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $371.68.

Amgen Stock Down 0.7%

The company has a market cap of $223.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.72, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $364.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $357.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.44.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical research company reported $6.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.62 by $0.67. Amgen had a return on equity of 124.14% and a net margin of 22.95%.The business had revenue of $10.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Amgen has set its FY 2026 guidance at 22.300-23.500 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 22.78 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $2.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $10.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 62.65%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,970 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.16, for a total value of $1,194,415.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,340 shares in the company, valued at $2,951,854.40. This trade represents a 28.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Amgen by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,838,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $17,949,296,000 after purchasing an additional 961,975 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Amgen by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 49,362,016 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,874,974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,261,544 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,591,403 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,012,872,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287,310 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 23,097,711 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,560,249,000 after purchasing an additional 4,302,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,303,294 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,665,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035,779 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

About Amgen

Amgen Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN) is a global biotechnology company founded in 1980 and headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. The company focuses on discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering human therapeutics that address serious illnesses. Amgen’s work centers on biologic medicines derived from cellular and molecular biology, with an emphasis on translating advances in human genetics and protein science into therapies for patients.

Amgen’s commercial portfolio has historically included biologics used in oncology, supportive care, nephrology, bone health and cardiovascular disease.